Isn't this the same control the US government wants?
Egypt Shuts Off All Internet Access
"Several sources are reporting Egypt has shut off all Internet access. There is still no official confirmation. Blackberry, twitter and SMS seem confirmed off. So, if you were there, what would you do to get communications for everyone? Do you still have a POTS modem?"
Something for Privacy Day...
http://mashable.com/2011/01/27/the-real-reason-no-one-reads-privacy-policies-infographic/
The Real Reason No One Reads Privacy Policies [INFOGRAPHIC]
How many e-companies are dong this?
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=20060
Monster.com Latest Site Trying to Beat Regulators to Privacy Punch
January 28, 2011 by Dissent
Katy Bachman reports:
Friday is Data Privacy Day and at least one company, job search giant, Monster.com, is using the occasion to announce additional privacy controls for the 68 million job seekers reached annually by behaviorally targeted ads through its Career Ad Network.
Monster is one of many Internet companies that’s recently been feeling the heat coming from probes by the Federal Trade Commission, the Commerce Department and Congress, and is taking privacy policy into its own hands before the regulators do.
“We want to make sure our users know what we’re doing with their information and that we maintain their trust. In light of what is going on, we don’t want consumers to be concerned about what we’re doing,” said Mary Cavanaugh, manager and counsel of global privacy for Monster. “We think we’re ahead of the game.”
All the recruitment ads Monster places for its company clients will now contain a hyperlink that allows consumers to either opt-out of behavioral targeted ads or provide more information for better results. Before this new just-in-time hyperlink notification, Monster provided an opt-out control through its privacy policy.
Read more on AdWeek.
So, if the UK is doing a bad job, who is doing a good job (and what are they doing?)
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=20042
Privacy study signals a worrying increase in surveillance across Europe
January 28, 2011 by Dissent
Yesterday I pointed readers to Privacy International’s newly revamped web site and their infographic on surveillance issues by country. On Data Privacy Day (Data Protection Day in Europe), it seems appropriate to also post their press release on the state of privacy protection in the EU:
A landmark EU-wide study of national privacy safeguards published today shows a decline in privacy protection across Europe and a steep increase in state surveillance over the lives of individuals.
The year-long study, funded by the European Commission and backed by a 600-page analysis of privacy in 31 countries, was co-authored by the London-based global watchdog Privacy International, the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington DC and the Center for Media and Communications Studies of the Central European University in Budapest.
The study includes a rating for EU member states and accession candidate countries. This rating pits Britain and Ireland fighting over the bottom of the privacy league.
Further information about the project will be found at http://www.privacyinternational.org/ephr
The EPHR project comprises three action areas: (1) Map European privacy laws and recent developments as well as summarise the trends in the light of the right to privacy; (2) disseminate information and publish it on multiple online and offline platforms; and (3) develop innovative awareness-raising campaigns to be launched at the European Data Protection Day on 28th January 2011. The country reports were also translated into native languages.
The EPHR project builds upon the EPIC and Privacy International publication “Privacy & Human Rights: An International Survey of Privacy Laws and Developments“, which is the most authoritative reference on privacy regulations and developments worldwide.
Read more on Privacy International
For my Ethical Hackers and Computer Security students...
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=20068
Protecting your privacy from webcam threats
January 28, 2011 by Dissent
For Data Privacy Day, Cybrosys Technologies writes:
So you own a webcam? Good! Welcome to being watched then.
Cyber crime is a fascinating field: constantly evolving, and always innovating. Meet its most latest brain child: hacking webcams without even the owner knowing!
The idea is simple: they turn on your webcam and watch you. Oh no, you will not be asked to pose or say cheese. They simply capture away pictures and videos of yours or anything in the webcam’s field, when you go about doing stuff, blissfully unaware.
Switching off your cam is not going to help either. The webcam hacking spyware works with a Trojan backdoor software that will turn on the web cam on its own. This can be installed in your system when you download innocent-looking picture or video or music files.
Read more on Cybrosys. Although they mention “studies” about this problem, I see no studies mentioned – just some news reports describing cases where people didn’t know they were being monitored via their webcams, including the Lower Merion case. But the article may inspire some people to shield their webcam lens if they’re not really using it.
(Related)
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ispy-turns-computer-webcam-surveillance-equipment/
iSpy Turns Your Computer Webcam Into Surveillance Equipment [Windows]
iSpy … has the ability to record video, record audio, provide online access to video and more.
… iSpy is able to record multiple video streams at once, so this launch area is meant to provide the space needed to keep tabs on a large number of cameras.
For my Lawyer friends...
Facebook Posts Mined For Courtroom Evidence
"Defense lawyers are increasingly gaining permission from US courts to mine the private comments and postings on Facebook accounts to be used as evidence during trials. The first example — noted in Slashdot in September — has given way to an avalanche of new cases — and a worrying precedent that judges consider social networking content to be public data." [Isn't it? Bob]
The flip side of Facebook... and perhaps a new area for Lawyers?
SI man hits Facebook with $500G suit
A Staten Island man is poking Facebook with a $500,000 lawsuit for disabling his account.
Mustafa Fteja said his account was disabled without explanation this past September, cutting off his access to friends and family around the world, as well as to personal memories and photos.
… Fteja, 39, said he's pressed the company for months to find out what happened, but to no avail.
"You call, they don't answer the phone. You write, they don't reply," he said - leaving him no choice but to go to court to get what he considers his property back.
… He found out he'd been cut off from his outside world this past Sept. 24, when he tried to sign on to his account, but couldn't. After a few more attempts, the site told him his account had been "disabled."
He tried to find out why, but ony got a form e-mail back two weeks later telling him he'd somehow violated the terms of the Facebook agreement. The social network typically cuts off users if they've posted objectionable content, or are suspected of spamming. Fteja said he didn't post anything objectionable, and he's no spammer.
… "Did someobody hack my account? I don't know. If it's that someobody hacked my account, Facebook should help me. If you have a problem with your AOL login, AOL helps you. Not Facebook," he said.
Since the site didn't inform his "friends" that his account had been disabled, many assumed he'd defriended them.
...His suit seeks money damages - and the restoration of his account. "While the requested service is free, the plaintiff has spent timeless hours creating content and relationships [Facebook] benefitted from," the suit says.
Facebook did not respond to e-mails for comment.
Another look at what the police can get and how they get it...
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=20032
When can cops gain access to my personal info on Facebook?
January 28, 2011 by Dissent
G.W. Schulz reports:
…. Digital rights advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have been suing federal agencies for months under the Freedom of Information Act with help from the Samuelson Clinic at UC Berkeley’s School of Law. The goal was to force open policies that explain when social networking sites can be used for government surveillance, data collection and investigations.
Results made public so far by EFF are available below for more than a dozen sites in a chart built by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Old and new policies alike are posted next to the document year, so you can compare possible changes over time. EFF argues that the variety among them shows how “social networking sites have struggled to develop consistent, straightforward policies.”
The chart makes for an interesting read.
Schulz also notes:
Verizon testified to Congress four years ago that it faced tens of thousands of requests for customer data annually. Google’s “Transparency Report,” praised by observers as a leading example of openness, lists how many it receives from countries around the globe: nearly 4,300 in the United States alone during a six-month period last year.
Facebook recently told reporter Bob McMillan that it would be releasing some information in the future, but did not specify when or exactly how they would handle it. And just today we learned that Comcast had indicated in an affidavit that it had revealed information on 36,771 customers to law enforcement over the past four years.
Read Schulz’s full report on the Center for Investigative Reporting. At the very least, consumers should be able to get clearer statements from some companies as to what their policies are about turning over information to law enforcement. Otherwise, how can consumers make an informed decision as to whether they want to use a service or trust a company with their data?
Tools for my Ethical Hackers. As I read this, I could install the software on your computer and have it quietly copy everything to my “backup” account in the Netherlands.
Safeberg.com - Back Up All Your Data
As the title of the review puts it, this is a new alternative for those who have decided it is time to back all their data. In this particular case, the storage process is made possible by installing and then launching a small application. This will take care of uploading all your data to the cloud, where you will be able to access it later on, at any time you want.
And (as it is only suitable) Safeberg takes care of backing up your data automatically. Once installed, it will do the job for you without you even noticing. And it is very important to mention that Safeberg can actually take care of backing up files that are open - its continuous backup capabilities make that possible.
The free version of Safeberg will let you store up to 2 GB of data...
(Related) I wonder if I can make Hillary Clinton sound like Elmer Fudd?
http://www.screamingbee.com/product/MorphVOXJunior.aspx
MorphVOX Junior 2.7.5
MorphVOX® Junior is free voice changer software that will modify your voice to match your personality. You can sound like a man, woman, or little folk. Built-in voices and sound effects make this voice changer so convenient to use.
Closing the barn door? Can they stop distribution of changes he made to his own PS3?
Sony Wins Restraining Order Against Geohot
"The courts have just issued a temporary restraining order against George Hotz (Geohot). Sony filed this lawsuit because they were unhappy that Geohot had released the Playstation 3 decryption keys so other people could play unsigned games on it. [Geohot is prohibited from] 'offering to the public, creating, posting online, marketing, advertising, promoting, installing, distributing, providing, or otherwise trafficking' in any software or methods for circumventing the PS3's protection methods. No longer can he 'provide links from any website to any other website' relating to such matters, or publish any information obtained by hacking the PS3. And more to the point, he can no longer 'engage in acts of circumvention of TPMS in the PS3 System to access, obtain, remove, or traffic in copyrighted works.' Pretty much he can't talk or think about the PS3 for some time."
As threatened promised...
Netflix Compares ISP Streaming Performance
"The Netflix blog compared streaming performance among 20 top ISPs for the past three months. A Netflix HD stream can provide up to 4800 kbps, but the fastest American ISP, Charter, could sustain only 2667 kbps on average. Most Canadian ISPs beat that, with champ Rogers providing an average of 3020 kbps. Clearwire, Frontier, and CenturyTel were in the doghouse with under 1600 kbps."
It looks like Scott Adams has been through TSA security recently...
Best summary of Social Networks I have seen yet...
Twitter = I need to pee.
Facebook = I peed!
Foursquare = I'm peeing here.
Youtube = Watch this pee!
LinkedIn = I pee well.
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