ZDNet – “The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has criticized Facebook for claiming that a consent decree handed down by the organization was the reason they had to shut down New York University’s Ad Observatory. Facebook has faced significant backlash this week after they closed the researchers’ accounts working for the Ad Observatory project, which let Facebook… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Commerce
How Your Ad Blocker Can Track You Across the Web
Gizmodo: “…the average ad blocker leaves tiny traces of data on the websites you visit. When those traces are collected en masse, a bad actor (or tech company) could use these signals to identify your specific browser—a process literally called “fingerprinting” in the ad-targeting industry. And like a fingerprint, these signals are basically impossible to… Continue Reading
Firefox 91 pushes privacy with stronger new cookie-clearing option
CNET: ” With the release of Firefox 91 on Tuesday, Mozilla has introduced a bigger hammer for smashing the cookies that websites, advertisers and tracking companies can use to record your online behavior. The new feature, called enhanced cookie clearing, is designed to block tracking not just from a website, but also from third parties… Continue Reading
Sci-Fi Guru Who Predicted Google Earth Explains Silicon Valley’s Latest Obsession
Vanity Fair – Way back in 1992, author Neal Stephenson published his breakthrough novel, Snow Crash, a cyberpunk exploration of then-futuristic technologies: mobile computing, virtual reality, wireless Internet, digital currency, smartphones, and augmented-reality headsets. The book famously opens with a breakneck car chase as the main character, Hiro Protagonist (it’s something of a satire), races… Continue Reading
You Don’t Really Own the Digital Movies You Buy
The New York Times Wirecutter: “As the entertainment industry shifts its distribution strategy to let people buy or rent movies closer to—or simultaneously with—their release in theaters, you may find yourself amassing a larger digital library than you’ve had in the past. But when you buy a movie from a digital service like Amazon Prime… Continue Reading
These 3 Tools Will Help You Spot Fake Amazon Reviews
Make Use Of: “The first thing people do when deciding whether to buy something online is check the customer reviews. A quick scan of the most recent reviews can tell you a great deal about whether a product is worth your money. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous sellers who commission positive reviews in order to mislead… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 1, 2021
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 1, 2021 – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and… Continue Reading
Americans added a few hundred million smart devices to their homes in 2020
Marketplace – And they’re learning a lot about us. “Back in 2014, when the Echo and its virtual assistant Alexa made their debut, it was called a “Star Trek computer for the home.” Over this past year, our homes have become our own personal Starship Enterprises, as more of us have turned to smart devices… Continue Reading
DuckDuckGo’s new email privacy service forwards tracker-free messages
Bleeping Computer: “DuckDuckGo is rolling out an email privacy feature that strips incoming messages of trackers that can help profile you for better profiling and ad targeting. Users of the service get a free “@duck.com” email address that cleans messages of trackers and forwards them to your normal inbox. Currently in private beta, DuckDuckGo’s Email… Continue Reading
Google knows where you are 24/7. Here’s how to make it stop
CNET: “You turned off location history on your Google account, so now your Google apps can’t track you, right? Not exactly. While disabling that setting sounds like a one-and-done, some Google apps are still storing your location data. Merely opening the Google Maps app or using Google on any platform for a search logs your… Continue Reading
TikTok is taking the book industry by storm, and retailers are taking notice
NBCNews – “BookTok has sent old books back to the top of bestseller lists and helped launch the careers of new authors. Videos with the BookTok hashtag have been viewed a collective 12.6 billion times… BookTok’s impact on the book industry has been notable, helping new authors launch their careers and propelling books like Silvera’s… Continue Reading
Gmail trick that everyone should be using for third party communications
BGR – “When compared to other email providers, Google’s Gmail does an incredible job of figuring out which emails are worthy of your attention and which ones are spam. That notwithstanding, it’s still easy to get bogged down with an overflowing inbox thanks to a seemingly endless stream of promotional emails that, while not technically… Continue Reading
