Privacy Misplaced

Feb 22

“It is now dead simple to develop mobile apps that collect all kinds of data about their users. On the Android platform, an app can collect data such as the device’s GPS location; which other apps are running and how much network traffic they use; what type of wireless network the device is using; the device manufacturer, model, and OS version; which cellular carrier the device uses; the device’s battery level; and the current cell tower ID. Similar provisions exist on iOS and other mobile operating systems. With rooted devices, it’s possible to collect even more information, such as a complete network packet trace and complete information on which websites and apps have been used. Put together, this data can yield a rich picture of the usage patterns, mobility, and network performance experienced by a mobile user. It is very tempting for researchers to exploit this capability, and it’s easy to get thousands of people to install your app by releasing it on Google Play or the Apple App Store. However, I have very little confidence that most researchers are adhering to legal and ethical guidelines for collecting such data — I bet the typical scenario is that the data ends up being logged to an unsecured computer under some grad student’s desk.” Volatile and Decentralized: The ethics of mobile data collection (via spectrumofnetworks)

(via spectrumofnetworks)

tamaleaver:

To the Batcave [Agent-X Comics]

via agent-x.com.au

$gaeul-bluffings: Google Wants All Your Personal Information, Promises To Use It For “Cool Things” Google announced today a major overhaul of its privacy policies, and everyone on the Internet shrugged and continued what they were doing.Haha, just playin’—people are freaking out. Effective March 1, the company will merge most of its over 70 separate privacy policies into one master policy.“That’s cool,” you might think to yourself. “I hate clutter.”What this actually means for you is that any information you may have provided one Google service will now become integrated with all the other ones you use. And what that actually means for you is that Gmail may not know how often you search for videos of Death Drop Dance-Offs on Youtube yet, but it will soon. All the ads targeted to you on Google are about to get even more creepily specific. Users cannot opt out of the privacy changes, so the Washington Post has posted a handy FAQ page to help the instantly outraged direct their anger toward specific infractions.$

gaeul-bluffings:

Google Wants All Your Personal Information, Promises To Use It For “Cool Things”

Google announced today a major overhaul of its privacy policies, and everyone on the Internet shrugged and continued what they were doing.
Haha, just playin’—people are freaking out.

Effective March 1, the company will merge most of its over 70 separate privacy policies into one master policy.
“That’s cool,” you might think to yourself. “I hate clutter.”
What this actually means for you is that any information you may have provided one Google service will now become integrated with all the other ones you use. And what that actually means for you is that Gmail may not know how often you search for videos of Death Drop Dance-Offs on Youtube yet, but it will soon. All the ads targeted to you on Google are about to get even more creepily specific.

Users cannot opt out of the privacy changes, so the Washington Post has posted a handy FAQ page to help the instantly outraged direct their anger toward specific infractions.

sagischwarz:

(via The Joy of Tech :: The Google Store Experience)

DuckDuckGo: CISPA has respawned. We need your help.

duckduckgo:

Last year, with your help and the help of other privacy advocates, we were able to defeat the progression of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). The proposed law sought to give companies more access to private data, which could then be shared with government agencies.

Last…

eclecticchaos:

Well, they asked how I felt about it. I shouldn’t be asked to take surveys.

Feb 21

Your doctor is complaining about you on Facebook

Amy Dunbar, an OB-GYN in St. Louis, recently vented about a patient of hers: “So I have a patient who has chosen to either no-show or be late (sometimes hours) for all of her prenatal visits, ultrasounds and NSTs. She is now 3 hours late for her induction. May I show up late to her delivery?”

The problem? She was complaining on Facebook. Later,a screenshot of the status was posted to the “Mercy Moms To Be” Facebook page (now removed) for St John’s Mercy Medical Center, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Feb 13

Internet Hugbox: Massive Google Play Privacy Issue

phetdreams:

About a month ago I put my money where my mouth was and built a version of the Paul Keating insult generator for Android (after the iOS version hit number 1 in the Australian App Store [tell your friends]). We sold a few hundred copies on Android in the last month, so that’s all good. Today I…

Feb 12

I have a trust card. What will you trust me with?

Girls-Only App Dishes on Potential Dates

Lulu is essentially a virtual response to the old bathroom wall. Everything from how often he pays for dinner to how wild he is in bed. Not to mention a bunch of personal information from Facebook a lot of guys may not want shared. And since they don’t know its been downloaded, this data is going to stay in Lulu’s database until Lulu merges, goes bankrupt, or gets sued

Privacy Misplaced

Look at privacy news I filter

To the Batcave [Agent-X Comics]

Google Wants All Your Personal Information, Promises To Use It For “Cool Things”

DuckDuckGo: CISPA has respawned. We need your help.

Your doctor is complaining about you on Facebook

Internet Hugbox: Massive Google Play Privacy Issue

I have a trust card. What will you trust me with?

Girls-Only App Dishes on Potential Dates