Thursday, June 05, 2014

Soon, everything (on the Internet of Things) will know where you are. (Why would a flashlight need to know where you are?)
FTC Testifies on Geolocation Privacy
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on June 4, 2014
“The Federal Trade Commission testified before Congress on the Commission’s efforts to address the privacy concerns raised by the tracking of information about consumers’ location, as well as proposed legislation to protect the privacy of geolocation data. Delivering testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee for Privacy, Technology and the Law, Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, outlined the FTC’s ongoing efforts to protect the privacy of consumers’ geolocation information through enforcement, policymaking, and consumer and business education. Precise geolocation data is sensitive personal information increasingly used in consumer products and services, the testimony states. These products and services make consumers’ lives easier and more efficient, but the use of geolocation information can raise concerns because it can reveal a consumer’s movements in real time and provide a detailed record of a consumer’s movements over time. “Geolocation information can divulge intimately personal details about an individual. Did you visit an AIDS clinic last Tuesday? What place of worship do you attend? Were you at a psychiatrist’s office last week? Did you meet with a prospective business customer?” the testimony states. Geolocation information may be sold to companies to help build profiles about consumers without their knowledge or consent, or it could be accessed by cybercriminals, hackers or through surreptious means such as “stalking apps.” The FTC has used its enforcement authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to take action against companies engaged in unfair or deceptive practices involving geolocation information. Last month, for example, the Commission entered into a settlement with the mobile messaging app Snapchat, resolving FTC allegations that Snapchat made multiple misrepresentations to consumers about the disappearing nature of messages sent through its service, as well its transmission of users’ geolocation information. The FTC has raised similar allegations involving undisclosed collection and transmission of location data as part of privacy complaints against a popular flashlight app, as well as a national rent-to-own retailer and one of its software vendors, the testimony states.”


So if the first thing out of my mouth was, “This involves National Security!” they have to turn off the recorders? OR if they think it involves National Security, I won't be able to prove what was said during the interrogation? Seems nuts to me, but then I'm not a lawyer.
In an important decision not widely reported, the Department of Justice last month adopted a policy requiring that interrogations of suspects arrested by the principal federal law enforcement agencies (including the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration) ordinarily must be recorded electronically. The new requirement is an unquestionably positive development, long overdue, but it expressly exempts interrogations in national security cases – an exception that is at best puzzling and, at worst, downright alarming. The new policy, set forth in a May 12 DoJ memo entitled “New Department Policy Concerning Electronic Recording of Statements” (full text), will go into effect on July 11, 2014.


For my Ethical Hackers. This is what happens to all those stolen cards...
Peek Inside a Professional Carding Shop
Over the past year, I’ve spent a great deal of time trolling a variety of underground stores that sell “dumps” — street slang for stolen credit card data that buyers can use to counterfeit new cards and go shopping in big-box stores for high-dollar merchandise that can be resold quickly for cash. By way of explaining this bizarro world, this post takes the reader on a tour of a rather exclusive and professional dumps shop that caters to professional thieves, high-volume buyers and organized crime gangs.


For my students with an Android phone.
New Ransomware Encrypts Android Files: ESET
Dubbed Simplocker, the malware scans the SD card for certain file types, encrypts them and then demands a ransom in exchange for decrypting the files. After launching the malware will display a message in Russian warning that the victim's phone has been locked while files are being encrypted in a separate thread in the background. The message demands payment in Ukrainian money, indicating that region of the world is likely the primary target.


For my Computer Security students. Scary, isn't it?
Keep Up With The Latest Data Leaks – Follow These 5 Services & Feeds
SC Magazine - The Data Breach Blog
Unfortunately, they are split between the US site and the UK site,


For my artsy-fartsy students.
30,000+ Images of Art and Artifacts to Download and Re-use for Free
The Museum of New Zealand recently released more than 30,000 images of art and artifacts to download and re-use for free. The images are a mix of public domain images and images labeled with a Creative Commons license. The museum makes it easy to determine how an image is licensed. To determine the licensing of an image simply click on the download button and the next page clearly shows the license for the image.
Finding images in the Museum of New Zealand's gallery isn't the most intuitive process. You can enter a keyword to search, but if you're too specific you might not find what you're looking for. For example, enter "fish" and scroll through the results rather than entering "salmon" or "trout" to find images of fish. The other way to search is to open the advanced search settings in which you can choose a collection to browse through.


For all my students. (Includes a “Free Doughnut Search Engine!
National Doughnut Day Friday, June 6

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