Articles from October 2011

Probably the most interesting news item we’ve got for you today – apparently over the first six months of 2011, US government requests for Google user data (to be used in criminal investigations) have increased just under 30% over a similar time period in 2010. In its Transparency Report, the company said it has complied with about 93% of said requests, and said it has also had requests to remove about 757 pieces of content, about 63% of which it has granted. Just some interesting tidbits, but definitely hit the link for the full story… [Wired]

Elsewhere in Google and privacy – apparently the company agreed to a settlement with the FTC earlier this week on the whole Google Buzz privacy fiasco of 2010. According to the settlement, Google is barred from making “future privacy misrepresentations,” and also “requires it to implement a comprehensive privacy program, and calls for regular, independent privacy audits for the next 20 years”… [FTC]

Perhaps your business uses Google Apps for email, or project documentation, or any number of things. Well, if that’s the case, and you set up a Google + profile for yourself using your business Google account, just be aware that whoever serves as Administrator of your businesses Google Apps can access your G+ data, modify your account, and/or your postings… [TheNextWeb]

And last piece of Google privacy news today, but apparently when the company recently rolled out its Real Time Analytics Beta to the latest round of testers, it put all 500(ish)+ email addresses in the To: line of the notifying email, rather than the BCC: line, thus exposing each address to the entire list. Not exactly the most public disclosure, but we see the implications nevertheless… [TechCrunch]

So, privacy implications aside, we don’t necessarily think this is altogether the worst way to target ads to people on the web, but apparently Visa and Mastercard are considering leveraging customer purchase history, alongside web browsing data in order to better target ads to consumers on the internet…which, of course, has caught Cognress’ eye, and indeed Senator Jay Rockefeller has sent the two companies a letter inquiring about said plans… [Mediapost]

Head’s up – in case you forgot, the date Anonymous had set forth as the day it would take down Facebook happens to be next Saturday, November 5, at which time it apparently has also planned to attack Fox News as well as publicly protest banks…which of course is right around the corner. So, those things may or may not happen, and we shall see… [Daily Dot]

But those aren’t the only targets of Anonymous’ ire lately – apparently the “hacktivist” group also issued a warning to web hosting service Freedom Hosting (and the internet porn community at large), which it claims hosts a number of child pornography sites. Anonymous demanded the host (and others) remove any/all child pornography from its servers or else… [Mashable]

And since we just mentioned Facebook – just an update on something we called out last week(ish) – as you may remember, The Social Network is now being investigated in Ireland (where all non North American accounts are apparently handled) for potential privacy violations related to the practice of archiving its users activities, and even those of non-users. Well, the update is that an audit is now under way, and the Irish officials on the case will be evaluating the findings to see whether Facebook violated any of Ireland’s Data Protection and Privacy regulations… [PC Mag]

Finally, if you’ve been with us since those primitive times of 2010, you’ll remember the Firefox plugin called Firesheep that allowed users to basically hijack other users social networking profiles if both users were connected to the same open wifi network. Well, perhaps the best way to protect yourself against something like that compromising your own profile is to understand how it might be accomplished, and correct accordingly…and if you want to know how to do that, this post has you covered… [Gizmodo]

So, if you’ve been following along at home, you may have noticed that as time has advanced, more and more of the stories we’ve noted have been about mobile privacy. Well, the 25 year old legislation that governs electronic privacy in general undoubtedly doesn’t well cover the privacy issues baked into mobile devices and technology. And so, a couple of Senators recently introduced the “Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act” (text here), which if enacted would govern what information mobile technology providers and developers could access and how they might be able (or not, as the case may be) to use it… [Examiner.com]

And while we’re mentioning updates on old legislation, this isn’t one, but it does involve an older piece of legislation that is making its impression felt today – you may remember a while back we mentioned Netflix getting sued by a group of consumers for collecting information on their video consumption histories, even after customers had canceled their accounts. Netflix is apparently looking to defend itself by arguing that the legislation deprives it of due process, and that it also exposes the company to excessive fines (the legislation prescribes a $2500 fine per violation)… [Mediapost]

If we had a dollar for every time we mentioned Facebook on this blog, well, we’d be rich enough to not be writing this blog. The latest privacy complaint(s) leveled against The (not a typo) social network involve Facebook Ireland, which apparently handles all Facebook accounts from users outside of the US and Canada. Apparently an Austrian law student recently requested his data from Facebook and received 12 CDs full of information on his activity on the service, including even a history of his “pokes” from the past three years or so, bringing to light a practice of the service creating “shadow profiles” of both users and even non-users alike… [Red Orbit]

Elsewhere in Facebook and privacy, however, Facebook’s CTO Bret Taylor recently noted that unlike points in its past history, now given the expanded set of options, most Facebook users have modified their privacy settings in some way or another… [ZD Net]

You probably remember we’ve highlighted the privacy implications of Amazon’s Silk browser a good amount recently, which comes installed on its Kindle Fire tablet. Well, while different parties have had their say about the relative privacy threat the browser poses, here’s Amazon’s official statement on the subject… [Gizmodo]

Not sure how many of you are interested in privacy at the SEC, or how many of you thought you’d ever even read those words in digital print, but apparently the Commission hired an outside agency a while back to monitor employees financial transactions, which has now in turn hired a subcontractor and another outside party, both of whom have access to the same information on SEC employees…without its permission…thus potentially exposing employee information to these third parties for an undefined period of time… [NY Times]

And finally, the results of a recent survey reveal 1) that 95% of respondents indicated that they take some precaution to safeguard their privacy electronically, and 2) that 56% of respondents were “aware that being on Facebook means compromising their privacy,” and 3) that 66% of respondents “indicated concern over websites and search engines collecting information as they surf the Internet,” among other data points… [Press Release]

We mentioned a couple of times recently how Verizon has been planning to roll out a better way to geotarget ads to its mobile customers, and that Congress had sent a letter to the company, requesting answers on the privacy implications (or lack thereof) of this new planned effort. Well, apparently things are moving forward to the point that Verizon actually updated its privacy policy and began informing its customers of the initiative last Friday, outlining what exact information it would be accessing, and how to opt out should they not want to be subject to this tracking… [Mashable]

Not sure you would have needed survey results to have noticed/known this, but according to a recent USA Today/Gallup survey, those of us who use Facebook more frequently than others are less worried about privacy than users who don’t spend as much time on the network… [PC World]

As more and more entrepreneurs seem to be popping up and developing new products, particularly in mobile, and as these products seem to be pushing the digital medium further along in its evolution, there has obviously been a concern about the personal data these products need access to in order to provide users’ the experiences they intend to provide. Well, recognizing this, the FTC’s “Privacy Czar” has warned said entrepreneurs to design their products to access only the personal information absolutely necessary to provide their intended experiences, lest they feel the wrath of his agency…or something like that… [TechCrunch]

You may remember we recently mentioned how the Amazon Kindle Fire’s built-in web browser Silk carries some privacy impliations with it, due to the data it allows Amazon to access on users. But if you’re wondering what privacy advocate group the Electronic Frontier Foundation thinks about it – apparently it gets their seal of approval…well, technically it said it was “generally satisfied” with the browser’s “privacy design,” but you get the idea… [PC Mag]

We know we’ve noted the fact that the legislation principally governing digital privacy is from 1986 approximately several hundred times over the course of this blog’s tenure on the internet, but apparently it recently officially saw its 25th birthday. But with no other solid answer on the table, as this article’s headline points out, this is one birthday that’s probably not worth celebrating… [PC World]

Perhaps at some point in the history of your relationship with Google, you had disabled its tracking of your web searches, a feature the company used to serve you more relevant ads. Well, if you had done so, maybe re-check to see if it’s still disabled, since apparently a number of people recently noted that despite disabling the feature long in the past, it was magically currently enabled… [TechCrunch]

You may remember how last week we mentioned Congressmen Markey and Barton sending a letter to Verizon inquiring about the potential privacy implications of an allegedly planned ad geotargeting program. Well, the Congressmen sent another letter on Friday, this time to Amazon, inquiring about the privacy implications of the Kindle Fire’s web browser, which as we also mentioned recently, gives the company the ability (in theory) to track users behavior all over the internet while they’re using it… [NY Times]

Elsewhere in Congress and digital privacy – apparently much like everyone else, the “commerce subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee” is also split on whether or not we need new legislation to regulate online advertising. Obviously the ad industry, as we’ve mentioned, has made efforts to self-regulate that might obviate the need for legislation, and some industry players make a good point in stating that the industry can move much more quickly than Congress in combating any kind of “illegal” tracking, but some Congressman Barton (also mentioned above) makes the fair point that self-regulation might not afford consumers the full protection they want… [PC World]

Continuing with the government theme – apparently a part of the office of national intelligence is hoping to begin “mining” data across the web, including social data from consumers, in order to better predict “political crises, revolutions and other forms of social and economic instability.” Obviously accessing consumer data without consumers’ permissions raises some serious privacy questions, but obviously we’re not at the stage yet where this might be debated, since the program is only theoretical for America just yet (though there is apparently a planned effort to mine and analyze this type of data from 21 Latin American countries starting next year)… [NY Times]

Finally, it has been a while since we mentioned the upstart anti-Facebook social network being built by a group of NYU students, Diaspora. And unfortunately, this time we’re not mentioning it to tell you that it’s available to anyone beyond Alpha testers. Rather, we’re mentioning it because it’s asking people for money, as it is apparently in need of further funding in order to eventually roll the service out to the public… [TechCrunch]

First things first, what we think is probably the biggest digital privacy news this week was the revelation yesterday that almost half of the top 185 US websites “transmit identifying details about their visitors to at least four outside websites.” The identifying details in most cases were just user IDs, but in some cases, like OkCupid.com, as this story points out, it was much more, including “gender, age, zip code, relationship status and ‘drug use frequency’”… [WSJ]

God bless America, land of the free, and home of the class action lawsuit against Facebook! Yep, a Kansas lawyer has apparently decided to become the latest to sue Facebook for its privacy practices (or lack thereof, depending on your perspective), specifically what has been in the news recently about the network tracking users with a cookie even when they’re logged out of Facebook… [TheNextWeb]

Over in Washington, DC, apparently Congressmen Joe Barton and Edward Markey are looking at Verizon as the latest potential privacy violator. The duo apparently sent a letter to the phone company last Thursday inquiring about the privacy implications of its plan to “start a geotargeted ad program”… [ClickZ]

If you didn’t think Anonymous would align itself in support of OccupyWallStreet, well, you probably just weren’t thinking about it. Nevertheless, in a show of said support, the hacking group attempted to take down the NYSE’s website, which it did, for about two minutes…literally… [Gizmodo]

If you’re a Spotify user, you’ll know that one of the most interesting or at least popular, though divisive, features is the ability to link the service to your Facebook account to share what you’re listening to with your Facebook friends. Well, apparently at some point in the recent past, the program had been logging users back into Facebook even if they had disconnected their Facebook accounts prior to that… [Gizmodo]

And in perhaps the most entertaining story of the day, apparently LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman recently said “all these concerns about privacy tend to be old people issues,” which certainly isn’t the first time someone has made such a statement, but is certainly notable given the notoriety of the source. And if you want to hear a rival professional social network founders clearly biased perspective on said statement, feel free to do check that out at the following link… [Business Insider]

We’re sure we don’t have to remind you that not long ago, Sony was dealing with quite a privacy problem when multiple networks containing customer data that it maintained were hacked. Well, apparently hackers attempted to hit Sony’s Playstation Network yet again last night, but this time, weren’t nearly as successful, and Sony immediately revealed the attempt, unlike the last time around… [paidcontent.org]

Finally, for our California readers, assuming we have any, you can thank Governor Jerry Brown for recently veto’ing a bill that would have forced law enforcement to secure a warrant before snooping on your phone after you’ve been arrested…then again, don’t get arrested and we suppose this won’t be a problem for you… [Gizmodo]

So, perhaps you’ve been timid when approaching social media because you’re unsure how what you say will or will not affect your professional reputation. Well, apparently the National Labor Relations Board recently published a report on social media usage and how it has affected and should affect your personal situation, which hopefully will at the very least spark a conversation about how social media should be or shouldn’t be used in employment situations. It’s not law, but it is the Board’s assessment of what is and is not acceptable… [Mashable]

I believe we’ve mentioned probably more than once over the past few months Congress’ initiatives to revise the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Well, rest assured the issue is still being kicked around by Congress, who despite their lack of action has at least recognized the necessity even on a personal level… [Washington Post]

You may remember us recently mentioning how Facebook “tracks” its users across the web, even when they aren’t logged in, or perhaps you are just generally aware of how Facebook operates. Well, apparently the Electronic Privacy Information Center and a bevy of like-minded privacy advocate organizations have asked the FTC to investigate “‘the extent of the harm to consumer privacy and safety’ in the company’s use of cookies and its proposed changes to its site” (presumably referring to the updated functionality Facebook announced at its recent F8 conference, including the timeline layout and “open graph” apps)… [Washington Post]

I know we’ve mentioned cases in the past involving the government tracking people using GPS, and how different federal circuits have split on the issue in terms of civil rights. Well, that circuit split is about to be resolved, as on of the cases on the docket for the Supreme Court’s upcoming term is one that should determine once and for all if this practice violates our civil liberties or not… [CNET]

Finally, some new Google Plus privacy features for y’all – the service recently released a feature that allows users to disable comments on a post completely, and “lock” a post so that other users can’t re-share it with their own “friends” on the service… [VentureBeat]