May 102014
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May 102014
Stories include how government classification created WikiLeaks, the origin of Anonymous’s war against the government, and how insecurity can actually lead to more innovation. Mudge concludes with a plea to members of both the government and the hacker community to work in educating each other. If you are dissatisfied with how the government is handling cyberspace, the best course is to work your way in and help define the correct way.
May 102014
The ever so popular Snapchat application for smart phones is in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission. The company is accused of not keeping their promises in terms of privacy. Snapchat is accused of, “collecting sensitive personal data, including address book contacts, despite promising otherwise.” The whole concept of SnapChat sending pictures or videos for up to ten seconds is becoming irrelevant. The FTC states that there are applications on phones that allow us to take screenshots or screen recordings that can get around that. In the terms of the settlement, SnapChat must create a privacy program and will be monitored for the next twenty years.
Personally, I dont think snapchat will still exist within the next twenty years. This also makes me think of all the other possible application out there that is collecting personal data without me knowing. I like SnapChat but I had no idea that they were doing this. I knew about how people could screen shot, however I did not know that they were, “collecting sensitive personal data.”
https://theweek.com/article/index/261287/speedreads-snapchat-settles-with-the-ftc-over-privacy-issues
May 092014
May 062014
Reddit, also known as the front page of the internet, has been a champion for internet freedom and privacy; their privacy policies have changed but their transparency of them have not. I am providing the link to their privacy settings because 1. reddit is a very popular website and 2. I believe their privacy policy page is an excellent example of what other websites should do. One thing that reddit notes is that they will now use the location of a post to better allow companies to target the Reddit user. This kind of advertising has been discouraged by many in the Reddit community, but this has been noted by the administrators of the website. Specifically, Reddit will let the user know when an advertisement appears because their location is being used.
Link: http://www.reddit.com/help/privacypolicy
-Brandon
May 052014
Sound convenient? It is. Sound scary? It is.
Next month, a pilot program of the “National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace” will begin in government agencies in two US states, to test out whether the pros of a federally verified cyber ID outweigh the cons.
May 052014
May 042014
May 022014
I do not condole Sterling’s remarks, but I agree with Randazza that we should condemn Stiviano’s behavior as much as we condemn Sterling’s racist comments. Unlike Romney’s “47%” speech that was addressed to a group of contributors and recorded by a bartender, Sterling’s remarks were addressed to a “friend”, meant to be private, and should not have been recorded by that “friend”. We should not have a future where our friends spy on us.
May 022014
Research shows smartphone sensors leave trackable fingerprints.