Via LLRX – Technology giants didn’t deserve public trust in the first place – This commentary by Zachary Loeb synthesizes the increasingly frequent calls for oversight, regulation and even breaking up giant tech companies who have strayed way beyond their initial mission statements of “don’t be evil” and “helping you connect and share with the people… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Privacy
As Federal Courts Urge Caution On Docket Services, Vendors Respond
LawSites – Bob Ambrogi – “Companies that provide services for accessing federal court dockets were caught off guard last week when a number of federal courts began sending notices to attorneys urging them to exercise caution when using such services. Some vendors said that the caution did not apply to them, while others said they were… Continue Reading
Amazon Announces a Security Change That May Help Companies Using AWS to Avoid Data Breaches
Fortune: “Amazon is finally offering a simple way for its cloud services customers to lock down data stored at its Simple Storage Service (S3) with one fell swoop. This change should help companies in the Fortune 500 and mom-and-pops down the street avoid embarrassing breaches of data. Customers of Amazon Web Services (AWS) routinely leave… Continue Reading
Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis
The New York Times: “…When Facebook users learned last spring that the company had compromised their privacy in its rush to expand, allowing access to the personal information of tens of millions of people to a political data firm linked to President Trump, Facebook sought to deflect blame and mask the extent of the problem.And… Continue Reading
Shop Safe This Holiday Season
Mozila: “Teddy bears that connect to the internet. Smart speakers that listen to commands. Great gifts—unless they spy on you. We created this guide to help you buy safe, secure products this holiday season.” Continue Reading
Holochain – energy efficient post-blockchain ledger system and decentralized application platform
Joe Hodnick – “Holochain is a protocol for encrypted computer communications that is designed to run entirely on distributed networks of home computers and smartphones, on a peer-to-peer, give-and-take basis. Because apps built using the holochain protocol will live exclusively on distributed networks of consumer-owned computers, these apps won’t need to interact with corporate server… Continue Reading
Google outage pushed traffic through Russia, China and Nigeria
CNet – Traffic got rerouted Monday through ISPs in countries known for internet surveillance. “Google suffered a brief outage and slowdown on Monday, with some of its traffic being rerouted through networks in Russia, China and Nigeria. Incorrect routing instructions sent some of the search giant’s traffic to Russian network operator TransTelekom, China Telecom and… Continue Reading
We should all worry about corporate control of data
The Next Web: “The information age has delivered innumerable wonders to us and continues to churn out astonishing innovations on a daily basis. The only reason that contemporary society enjoys such awesome technology and progress these days is that we can gleam so much insight from our data, particularly when we combine disparate datasets together… Continue Reading
DEA and ICE are hiding surveillance cameras in streetlights
Quartz: “The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have hidden an undisclosed number of covert surveillance cameras inside streetlights around the country, federal contracting documents reveal. According to government procurement data, the DEA has paid a Houston, Texas company called Cowboy Streetlight Concealments LLC roughly $22,000 since June 2018 for “video… Continue Reading
Why Social Media’s Misinformation Problem Will Never Be Fixed
Slate – Facebook and others have gotten more serious about hoaxes, hate speech, propaganda, and foreign election interference. Here’s how it helped in the midterms—and why they aren’t going away. “At first grimace, the role of social media in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections looked a lot like the role it played in the 2016,… Continue Reading
Paper – Browser history re :visited
Browser history re:visited. Michael Smith, Craig Disselkoen. Shravan Narayan, Fraser Brown, Deian Stefan. Abstract – “We present four new history sniffing attacks. Our attacks fit into two classical categories—visited-link attacks and cache-based attacks—but abuse new, modern browser features (e.g., the CSS Paint API and JavaScript bytecode cache) that do not account for privacy when handling… Continue Reading
Wyden Releases Discussion Draft of Legislation to Provide Real Protections for Americans’ Privacy
Bill Requires Radical Transparency About How Corporations Share, Sell and Use Your Data; Creates Tough Penalties and Jail Time for Executives – “Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released a discussion draft of sweeping new legislation that would empower consumers to control their personal information, create radical transparency into how corporations use and share their data, and… Continue Reading
