Latest "Online Privacy" Posts
Facebook claims to offer ‘transparency’ about targeted ads
Facebook will now identify ads that have been targeted at users based on browser histories, ZIP codes and other data that advertisers collect. This is just a glimpse into the information floating around the Web about us.
According to a recent article in VentureBeat, a little blue triangle over an ad on Facebook will denote that it has been targeted for you specifically. But, don’t get too excited about this supposed transparency just yet.
For starters, it doesn’t reveal the specific information that led the advertisers to target you, nor does it specify how they obtained it. Furthermore, you have to jump through more than one hoop to even see the little blue triangle.
Stop Online Tracking Ep. 4: Enable Do Not Track
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnTQZFPDhH4?rel=0]
Watch the entire Browser Spies Online Privacy series. To view the entire series, wait until the end of each video and click on the Next Video button in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. As you watch each short video in your browser, make the necessary changes based on each simple video tip on protecting your online identity and privacy.
Browser privacy expert John Sileo and Fox & Friends have teamed up to educate consumers on how your browsing patterns are being monitored, shared and sold as you surf the Internet. These tips give you more control over your online security in short, easy to implement phases. Data exposure, surf-tracking and constant browser surveillance are a reality of the digital age. It’s important to defend your information privacy before it’s too late.
China Hacks Wall Street Journal. Is Your Business Next?
Quick! Name a major international newspaper that wasn’t hacked last week. It might be harder than you think.
Last Wednesday, The New York Times announced on its front page that it had been hacked over the course of four months by state-sponsored cyber criminals in China. The Times said that Bloomberg News had also recently been targeted. The following day, The Wall Street Journal said it too had been infiltrated by Chinese hackers. Next up was the Associated Press, acknowledging similar data security breaches.
According to The Times, it was breached thanks to a spear-phishing attack, at which point the hackers uploaded an array of malware to the company network and started stealing email passwords of reporters, editors and other employees.
This all stems from an October 2012 story written in the paper about the family of the Chinese prime minister quietly amassing a multi-billion-dollar fortune in recent years. Apparently, they were looking for sources used in the investigation that might be revealed in the email accounts of Times reporters and editors.
Data security dealt another body blow as Twitter gets hacked
About 250,000 Twitter accounts may have been hacked last week. Was yours one of them?
On Friday, the company announced via its official blog that it has reset the passwords for those users after a breach was detected in which email addresses, usernames and encrypted password data may have been accessed by hackers.
The blog post was quick to point out that other companies such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have recently fallen victim to data security breaches as well, though those attacks appear to have been state-sponsored (check back here tomorrow for more on those breaches).
There has been no indication as of yet that the infiltration of Twitter was related to those incidents. However, Bob Lord, the company’s director of information security and author of the blog post, said he does not believe this was an isolated event, and that the attack was sophisticated and not “not the work of amateurs.”
FTC chairman resigns, but online privacy threats persist
Word broke last week that the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Jon Leibowitz, will step down from his post in mid-February.
During his four-year run, Leibowitz brought cases against two of the internet’s biggest companies – Google and Facebook – for violating their own privacy policies. He also spent time working on the expansion of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
An article in The New York Times cites several political figures with varying stances on his performance as the FTC’s chief. Most of the attention, however, has been focused on his actions to curb unfair competition practices in the United States.
While this is obviously the main focus of the FTC, it is frightening that online privacy is treated as the red-headed stepchild of the head of the FTC’s duties. As companies like Google, Facebook and Apple continue to grow in gargantuan leaps and bounds, their business practices are inextricably interwoven with online privacy rights.
Stop Online Tracking Ep. 3: Turn on Private Browsing
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv4SHrjT77M?rel=0]
Watch the entire Browser Spies Online Privacy series. To view the entire series, wait until the end of each video and click on the Next Video button in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. As you watch each short video in your browser, make the necessary changes based on each simple video tip on protecting your online identity and privacy.
Online surveillance expert John Sileo and Fox & Friends have teamed up to educate viewers on how your data is being tracked, stored and sold as you surf the World Wide Web. These tips give you more control over your online privacy in short, easy to implement steps. Internet privacy, cookie tracking and constant web surveillance are a reality of the information economy. It’s important to defend your privacy before it’s too late.
Maintaining Privacy While Living in a Digital Fishbowl
“When you put something out there, anyone can see it – from a future job interviewer to an internet creep.”
This was what the title character on the ABC drama “Castle” said to his daughter in a recent episode upon discovering a video blog in which she was sharing personal details about her life. Richard Castle, played by actor Nathan Fillion, was distraught over his 18-year-old daughter’s over-sharing, worried that any number of miscreants could use details she posts online to do her harm.
When he explained this to her and added that he didn’t want something she posted on a whim to haunt her years later, she showed a fractured appreciation of the topic of online privacy.
“My generation grew up in a digital fishbowl,” she said. “No matter how careful we are stuff will get out there. Friends will tag me in photos, inevitably doing something stupid. Why should that define me?”
Stop Online Tracking Ep. 2: Log Out of Spying Sites
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LidYxWJR3Y?rel=0]
Watch the entire Browser Spies Online Privacy series. To view the entire series, wait until the end of each video and click on the Next Video button in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. As you watch each short video in your browser, make the necessary changes based on each simple video tip on protecting your online identity and privacy.
Internet privacy expert John Sileo and Fox & Friends have joined up to educate you on how your data is being tracked, recorded and sold as you surf the Internet. These tips give you greater control over your online privacy in short, easy to implement steps. Web privacy, browser tracking and constant Internet surveillance are a reality of modern browsing. It’s important for you to protect your privacy before you have totally lost control.
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