PogoWasRight - Internet and Computers

MySpace lets users share data

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:05:24 -0400

The world's most popular social networking site MySpace is to allow users to make their information available to other websites.

Its "data availability" project will let members share public profile information with Yahoo, Twitter, eBay and Photobucket.

Source - BBC

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Washingtonpost.com wants identities of readers who post comments

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:04:36 -0400

If Jim Brady had his way, there would be no guaranteed anonymity for those who post comments to Washingtonpost.com.

Brady, executive editor of The Washington Post online division, said during a panel discussion at the Digital Hollywood conference here, that he would like to see a technology that could identify people who violate site standards--and if need be--automatically kick them off for good.

Brady has a notable history with this issue and I'll get to that. First, his position must be made clear. In an interview following the panel discussion, Brady said he doesn't want people's personal information for any other reason but to hold them accountable for what they post. He said he's not--as he has been accused by some--an enemy of free speech. He just wants to oversee a site where readers engage in civil discourse and debate without fear of it degenerating into a "back alley environment."

Source - C|net

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MySpace User Ad Targeting Will Be Optional

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:46:57 -0400

MySpace will give users the option of whether they want to participate in a targeted advertising system that mines their profile's information, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

MySpace's HyperTargeting system will look at a person's interests listed on their public profile and then classify the user into particular interest-specific categories, said Travis Katz, senior vice president for MySpace International. Advertisers will then be able to target categories of users that may be most receptive to their campaigns, he said.

But in a nod to the growing concerns over how personal information is handled by social networks for advertising, people will be able to opt out, Katz said. MySpace will also not collect and store other personal information on users, he said.

Source - PCWorld

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The darker side of Webmail

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:55:19 -0400

Web-based e-mail is booming. Services such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail are convenient, accessible and, best of all, free. Many of us have come to rely on them without giving it a second thought.

But second thoughts may be in order, according to security experts, privacy advocates and some Webmail users. Few consider the fact that Webmail is inherently different than POP3 e-mail. It differs in who administers it and how, in the ways it may be vulnerable to hacking, and in the type of help you can expect when you have a problem.

Source - Computerworld

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Anti-Spyware Coalition probes data pimping

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:53:55 -0400

The Anti-Spyware Coalition has launched a review of Phorm, NebuAd, and other behavioral targeting firms that track user data from inside the world's ISPs.

Today, the ASC - a collection of anti-spyware companies, academics, and various consumer advocates - announced a new internal working group to decide how Phorm and the Phormettes will affect the organization's overarching policies on spyware.

Source - The Register

Related - ASC Release

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Phorm responds to FIPR; Home Office restates position

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:01:03 -0400

Oh, the twists and turns in the row over the legality of Phorm's server-side adware system go on and on. Earlier today we noted that the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR) said the system infringed both Data Protection and interception laws.

So now, Phorm has responded, and it's not pleased. It starts gently:

People are rightly concerned about online privacy and other online companies are collecting, storing and using large amounts of personal data often keeping personal information for at least 13 months. Our technology, however sets a new standard - it does not store personal data.

This is undeniably true, though FIPR's argument (and Richard Clayton's argument, separately) is that while that might not be stored, it can be derived from the cookies and other information flying about.

Phorm isn't finished, however:

FIPR is abusing its influence and promoting its own agenda by encouraging a frivolous debate about the legality of a legitimate e-commerce business. Internet users would be better served if FIPR focused on the benefits of the online technologies available today rather than undermine the online privacy debate and block technological progress. That would help people to make valid informed choices about the services they want to use.

Source - Guardian Technology Blog

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FIPR calls on Home Office to withdraw misleading advice on Phorm

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:36:10 -0400

The Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR) has today sent the Home Office in-depth legal analysis [pdf] of the Phorm behavioural advertising system. The analysis has been produced by FIPR�s General Counsel (and ORG Advisory Council member) Nicholas Bohm, and complements the technical analysis produced by Richard Clayton earlier this month [pdf]. The analysis shows that Phorm�s systems involve interception of communications contrary to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, fraud, contrary to the Fraud Act, and therefore unlawful processing of personal data, contrary to the Data Protection Act. It states that individual directors and managers of the Internet Service Providers involved could be criminally liable for these offences, if roll out of Phorm goes ahead.

FIPR want the Home Office to withdraw informal advice they issued in February, which FIPR say wrongly concluded the system is lawful, creating �an obstacle to the just enforcement of the law�. At the public meeting attended by Phorm and their critics last week, Simon Davies of 80/20 Thinking Ltd identified the legality of Phorm under RIPA as a legitimate issue, but urged participants not to get bogged down in a question which, in the end, can only be decided in a court of law. Hopefully, FIPR�s legal analysis will bring UK citizens one step closer to an answer to the question �Is Phorm legal?�.

Source - Open Rights Group

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Privacy Disaster At Twitter: Direct Messages Exposed (Update: GroupTweet Is Likely Culprit)

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:41:08 -0400

Twitter user Orli Yakuel, with 650 followers, had a nasty surprise this morning - her direct messages (private messages between two Twitter users) showed up in her normal Twitter stream (and were subsequently published to her FriendFeed account). Friends messaged her to tell her about the embarrassing issue.

At first she tried to delete the private messages and posted the notice above, but she then simply deleted her entire Twitter account (it was here). I saw it before deletion, however, and it clearly contained very private messages, exposed to anyone who went to her page. One user messaged her that it had happened to him as well, but I have not verified it personally.

[...]

Update 2: New registrations for GroupTweet are being disabled by the founder �until this is sorted out.�

Source - TechCrunch

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EMI Says You Can't Store Your Music Files Online

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:00:34 -0400

Today, MP3tunes' CEO Michael Robertson sent out an email to all users of the online music backup and place-shifting service MP3tunes.com, asking them to help publicize EMI's ridiculous and ignorant lawsuit against the company. EMI believes that consumers aren't allowed to store their music files online, and that MP3tunes is violating copyright law by providing a backup service. (And we're not using a euphemism here�it really is a backup/place-shifting service and not a file sharing site in disguise.)

Source - The Consumerist

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Data pimping catches ISP on the hop

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:27:52 -0400

What's the story with Phorm, NebuAd, and other behavioral targeting firms that track user data from inside the world's ISPs? In some cases, even the ISP can't tell you.

In February, the Silicon Valley-based NebuAd deployed its deep-packet inspection technology on a Middle America ISP known as WOW!, formerly WideOpenWest. The official word from NebuAd is that its partner ISPs are required to directly notify customers via letter or email before its hardware is turned on, but WOW! - America's 12th largest cable operator, serving Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio - says this did not happen on its service.

Source - The Register

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Security firms scrutinise Phorm

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:30:59 -0400

Online advert system Phorm could be automatically blocked by security programs, BBC News has learned.

The controversial system is based around small files called cookies that some computer security firms say they may label as "adware" and block.

Other firms are waiting until the system is rolled out until they decide what to do with Phorm cookies.

Source - BBC

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Desktop on Demand Concept looks to quash privacy issues

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:43:25 -0400

Desktop on Demand, a remote desktop service launched by Security Firm De Futuro, aims at providing IT and document management teams with a full office suite, enhanced privacy and file sharing functionality.

The additional privacy inherent in the product is the result of a remotely hosted Web browser, which eliminates the possibility of the user's usage habits being tracked by the ISP.

Source - ITProPortal.com

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Computer searches as 21st Century general warrants

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:49:12 -0400

I was reading a child porn computer search case today, posted elsewhere, that again made me think about how easy it is for police to put in a search warrant application that they want to search for a computer. So, let me go on a little about the need for computer searches just because there is a computer in the placed to be searched:

What is the "nexus" of the computer to the evidence to be sought, practically, realistically, and actually? Is it hypothetical or real? Even if it is hypothetical, is that enough to get over the good faith exception? The case law is not all that helpful. Basic search principles lead to one result, but computer searches almost seem to be in the process of subconsciously trying to divide off into their own little world so they become subject to different rules. If it happens, it is result oriented jurisprudence that fails to adhere to basic Fourth Amendment principles. If Kyllo�s thermal imaging is governed by basic Fourth Amendment rules applied to new technology, then why are not computer searched governed the same way? There is no way that they should not be. (The DOJ computer search manual is listed on the right margin.)

Source - FourthAmendment.com blog

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Tough cookies for Web surfers seeking privacy

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 06:47:15 -0400

For consumers trying to protect their privacy on the Internet, it's a Catch-22.0.

Advertisers often track Web surfers' activities so they can deliver targeted ads. One of the best ways to avoid this is to install a tiny piece of software that lets computer users opt out of the practice.

But the trouble is that the digital stop sign is often wiped out by other programs designed to protect people's privacy and security.

This little-known flaw in the system highlights the increasing complexity of safeguarding personal data as companies collect more and more information about people's digital footprints: Even the solutions have problems.

Source - Los Angeles Times

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Privacy advocates: Consumer education isn't enough

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:56:03 -0400

The efforts of e-commerce sites and online advertisers to educate U.S. consumers about privacy and targeted advertising aren't enough because many consumers won't take the time to understand the issues, privacy advocates said Thursday.

Leaders of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) called for Congress to pass online privacy regulations during a forum hosted by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California. And Susan Grant, director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation of America, suggested the U.S. government should set up a "do not track" list, prohibiting advertisers from tracking online activities, modeled after the do-not-call list governing telemarketers.

Source - InfoWorld

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Wife takes divorce drama online, vents scorn via YouTube

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:21:06 -0400

We're the YouTube Generation, living in the YouTube Era, in a YouTube World. And now we apparently have a YouTube Divorce.

Some prominent New York divorce lawyers couldn't think of another case where a spouse -- in this instance, the wife of a major Broadway theater operator -- had taken to YouTube to spill the secrets of a marriage in an apparent effort to gain leverage and humiliate the other side.

Source - CNN

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Consumer groups urge "do not track" registry

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:12:13 -0400

Two consumer groups asked the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday to create a "do not track list" that would allow computer users to bar advertisers from collecting information about them.

The Consumer Federation of America and the Consumers Union also urged the FTC to bar collection of health information and other sensitive data by companies that do business on the Internet unless a consumer consents.

Source - Reuters

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David Canton: Personal expression can lead to trouble

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:55:24 -0400

Facebook, blogs and other social media have made everyone a publisher. Anyone can post their thoughts for the world to see.

But a recent criminal prosecution over comments made on Facebook is a reminder that if one is not careful, that personal expression could result in criminal or civil liability.

Source - Canoe

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Google Says I.P. Addresses Aren�t Personal

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:27:13 -0500

Google has responded to European regulators who have suggested that Internet Protocol addresses of users be considered personally identifiable information.

Not surprisingly, it disagrees.

The issue matters because the standards for what companies do with data that can be traced back to an individual are subject to tighter rules than other information they use � as they should be. Google records the I.P. address associated with every search it handles.

Source - NY Times

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