If they
released this as an App, it would become a
mandatory tool for Computer Security. (Hint,
Hint. Wink, Wink.)
Researchers
at Princeton University have released IoT
Inspector, a tool that analyzes the security and privacy of IoT
devices by examining the data they send across the Internet. They've
already used the tool to study a bunch of different IoT devices.
From their blog
post:
Their
first two findings are that "Many IoT devices lack basic
encryption and authentication" and that "User behavior can
be inferred from encrypted IoT device traffic." No surprises
there.
Finding
#3: Many IoT Devices Contact a Large and Diverse Set of Third Parties
In many cases,
consumers expect that their devices contact manufacturers' servers,
but communication with other third-party destinations may not be a
behavior that consumers expect.
[…]
Samsung Smart TV.
During the first minute after power-on, the TV talks to Google Play,
Double Click, Netflix, FandangoNOW, Spotify, CBS, MSNBC, NFL, Deezer,
and Facebook – even though we did not sign in or create accounts
with any of them.
Dilbert
continues to demonstrate the value of surveillance.
Another
peak behind the curtain.
Jonny
Evans reports:
Apple has at last introduced a new tool that lets you request and download everything the company knows about you, including all the data it gathers and retains when using the company’s retail outlets, iCloud, apps, products, and services.
Why is this tool available?
In part, Apple has made this information available to bring it into line with Europe’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) legislation, laws designed to better protect individual privacy in an online age.
Google, Facebook, Twitter, and almost every other company has also had to introduce these tools, making it far easier for users to compare the quantity and depth of information these unconstrained corporations hold about them.
Read more on Computerworld.
Fuel
for our debates on what data collection is appropriate.
Fitbit
Strikes Deal With Google That Could Lead to Wearables Collaboration
Fitbit
has teamed up with Google
in an effort to get more deeply involved in the healthcare sector.
The fitness tracker maker announced on Monday that
it would use Google’s recently
announced health data standards for apps, known as the Google
Healthcare API, to connect its wearable devices to the electronic
medical records systems used by doctors and hospitals. The aim
eventually is to allow doctors to get health data straight from
Fitbits on their patients’ wrists.
Are
they saying we are already doomed or that it is possible to grant
governments and law enforcement access when appropriate? Judge for
yourself.
Stewart
Baker writes:
This episode features a new technology-and-privacy flap: The police finally catch a sadistic serial killer, and the press can’t stop whining about DNA privacy. I argue that DNA privacy is in the running for Dumbest Privacy Issue of the Decade, in which it turns out that privacy is all about making sure the police can’t use your data to catch killers. Paul Rosenzweig refuses to take the other side of that debate.
Ray Ozzie has released a technical riposte to the condescending Silicon Valley claim that math proves the impossibility of securely accommodating law enforcement access. Paul and I muse on the aftermath, in which Silicon Valley may actually have to try winning the debate rather than claiming that there is none.
Read more on The
Volokh Conspiracy.
Perhaps
we don’t really care about elections?
A
dubious anniversary for the Federal Election Commission
As of
April 30, the FEC's current four commissioners have been on the
commission for a total of 32 years longer than they should have been.
Vice Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub’s six-year term
expired 11 years ago, when George W. Bush occupied the White House
… Commissioner
Steve Walther (nine years), Commissioner Matthew Petersen (seven
years) and Chairwoman Caroline Hunter (five years) have also stayed
aboard long after they should have been out of a job. Beyond the
holdovers, there are two vacant spots on the commission.
… If
one commissioner retires, resigns or otherwise isn’t present, the
agency that regulates and enforces campaign money laws loses its
four-commissioner quorum and can’t conduct high-level business. No
passing rules. No penalizing scofflaws. No providing official
advice to political committees seeking it.
Science
Fiction or serious
scientific futurism?
The
Future of Warfighting? Pulse Mortars, Exploding ‘Roaches’ And
Open-Market Air Support
Editor’s
note: Not long
ago, the British Army approached August Cole, author of the 2015
E-ring cult thriller Ghost
Fleet and
former director of the Atlantic Council’s Art of the Future
project, with a question: What
will the operating environment look like in the 2030s?
The result
is “Automated Valor,” a short story running in Proceedings,
the monthly magazine
published by the US Naval Institute.
… read
the whole story at Proceedings.
Not that I have too
many books. Can you have too many books? My wife seems to think so.
declutter –
Sell CDs, DVDs, Games and Books
“Decluttr
is the easy way to sell CDs, DVDs, Games, Blu-Rays
and Books. Just enter the barcodes on your items (or scan them using
our FREE app) for an instant value, pack them into a box, and ship
them for FREE. Millions of CDs, DVDs, Games, Blu-Rays and Books are
sold in America each year. Even though digital options are popular,
we still can’t get enough of physical media. This can lead to a
lot of clutter, which takes up space you may need for other stuff!…
We’ll take your unwanted stuff and give you a check in return,
making you money and more room. Just get an instant value for your
stuff by entering their barcodes (or scan them using our app) and
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check, PayPal or direct deposit into your account and that’s it…”
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