Friday, October 12, 2012

“Well, everyone else is doing it!”
Apple Has Quietly Started Tracking iPhone Users Again, And It’s Tricky To Opt Out (update1)
October 11, 2012 by Dissent
Jim Edwards reports:
Apple’s launch of the iPhone 5 in September came with a bunch of new commercials to promote the device.
But Apple didn’t shout quite so loud about an enhancement to its new mobile operating system, iOS 6, which also occurred in September: The company has started tracking users so that advertisers can target them again, through a new tracking technology called IFA or IDFA.
Read more on Business Insider.
Update: Tinfoil 2.0 comments that the preceding article is full of errors.


“It was only twenty eight times!”
Gazette sues city for records of employee discipline for Internet abuse
October 11, 2012 by Dissent
Do city employees have any expectation of privacy if using work computers to surf porn sites? And can the city shield the names of those employees from freedom of information requests? Those questions are being addressed in a Billings, Montana court. Ed Kemmick reports:
The Billings Gazette filed a lawsuit against the city of Billings on Thursday, asking for the release of public records dealing with city workers who were disciplined for viewing inappropriate websites on the job. [If they are “inappropriate” shouldn't the city block them? Bob]
[...]
In a letter dated Sept. 10, City Attorney Brent Brooks said the city would supply the information regarding the Internet searches. It has not yet provided that data.
As for the other two requests, Brooks said, “We cannot fulfill these requests because to do so would violate individual City employee’s right to privacy.”
Read more on Billings Gazette.


The sad part is, if the photos had been taken by Playboy the Copyright Cops would be much more aggressive than the Privacy Police... (Does plugging your phone into a company outlet make the contents of the phone subject to “inspection?”)
Boss Allegedly Downloaded Nude Photos From Employee’s Cell Phone, Showed Them Around The Office
October 11, 2012 by Dissent
Kashmir Hill writes:
This case could be filed under “Horrible Bosses” or “Stupid Employees.” Jonathan Bruns of Texas had a temp job working for Houston-based Deepwater Corrosion Services, a company which, as you might guess from the name and location, is involved in the offshore oil industry. Via Courthouse News Service:
Bruns claims a staffing agency assigned him to work for Deepwater and his supervisor Pete Offenhauser gave him permission to recharge his phone on an office outlet.
That seems nice enough, but then Offenhauser allegedly went snooping… and struck oil:
“Unbeknownst to Mr. Bruns, and after he had returned to his usual job duties and responsibilities, Mr. Offenhauser accessed certain private material on Mr. Bruns’ cell phone and displayed the same on his laptop computer, specifically pictures of Mr. Bruns’ fiancée … without any clothing,” the complaint states.
Read more on Forbes.


“Well look at that. Clearly the Ayes have it!” Typical Politician
"Open source writer Glyn Moody discusses the Draft Communications Bill (aka Snooper's Charter) in the UK and how the Joint Parliamentary Committee that had been considering the bill received almost 19,000 emails during its consultation period. He notes: 'Out of 19,000 emails received by the Committee on the subject of the proposed Draft Communications Bill, not a single one was in favor of it, or even agreed with its premise. Has there ever been a bill so universally rejected by the public in a consultation? Clearly, it must be thrown out completely.'" [Or added to the Official Secrets list Bob]


Absent a declaration of war by an enemy, what would it take to convince politicians that the public was behind them if they initiated cyberattacks? Would the average citizen recognize a “cyber Pearl Harbor” if it didn't directly impact them? (i.e. Facebook still works?)
Pre-emptive cyberattack defense possible, Panetta warns
The U.S. military has the ability to act pre-emptively when it detects an imminent cyberattack threat, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today.
During his first major policy speech on cybersecurity, Panetta echoed previous statements that the United States was facing the possibility of a "cyber-Pearl Harbor" perpetrated by foreign hackers, painting a grim portrait of the destructive power wielded by unnamed agents.
"A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack of 9/11," he said in prepared remarks during a speech at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. "Such a destructive cyber terrorist attack could paralyze the nation."

(Related) When someone does attack Facebook, should we nuke them? Grab them and send them to Guantanimo? Send them an angry tweet?
If you’re trying to get on Facebook at the moment and the site isn’t cooperating, you’re definitely not alone. The Next Web is reporting that throughout the day, Facebook has gone down in places like Austria, Norway, Germany, Greece, France, Italy, and Sweden. Making things much more interesting is Twitter user AnonymousOwn3r, who is claiming to be the one bringing Facebook to its knees.

(Related) Then when the radiation cools, we can appologize...
Facebook runs tests, knocks service off across Europe

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