Is wardriving for wireless LANs illegal under UK Law?

[g.leonard@hushmail.com]

I'm doing an MSc project on Wireless LAN security and I'm considering doing a wardrive around London to verify the numerous "wardriving" stories in the press.  By wardrive I mean using a tool like netstumbler that detects the WLAN beacon frames to register the presence of the wireless LAN and collect status information such as WEP key length, BSS name, location, etc.  

However, I'm little concerned about the legality of a wardrive particularly given the RIP Act which makes it illegal to intercept communications.  Does the interception of WLAN beacon frames count as interception of communications?  Or do you need to use a packet sniffer or connect to the network to break the law?

I'd appreciate the group's views on this and any pointers to a legal analysis of this subject.

Thank you,



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