Google wants to change things up a bit and grant itself the right to combine your personal information across its products. So how is it planning on doing that? By simply rewriting its privacy policy to let you know about it first, which they figure you’ll agree to if you want to keep using Google stuff. [More]
Google Reaching Its Grabby Arms Out To Combine More Of Your Personal information
By January 25, 2012
Author Crafts Modest Proposal For Police Officers To Consider
By October 27, 2011
Law enforcement officers put themselves at great risk, perform a vital public service and give society the peace of mind to be able to function with confidence. Even so, it has been said that some cops have been known to do things that could be classified as annoying or abusive. [More]
Big Brother Is Watching You — And He Has Ice Cream!
By June 21, 2010
If you happen to be going to Cannes this summer (and, really, if you aren’t, you should be) mega-conglomerate Unilever is ready to tempt you with a treat straight out of Minority Report. The company has set up a vending machine that lets anyone who walks by score some free ice cream. The price? Just smile for the machine’s facial recognition software, which will determine your age, gender and emotion. Only the most happy will get ice cream. The rest? We don’t really know, but we seem to remember something having to do with stolen eyeballs that can be used to trick such systems. [More]
Google Street View Cars Accidentally Collected Web Site Info
By May 15, 2010
Woopsies! Looks like Google’s super neat Street View cars have been going about collecting the wrong kind of information – namely, data about what Web sites people were using via open wireless Internet networks, CNN reports, [More]
PleaseRobMe.com Lets The World Know No One's Home
By February 17, 2010
The history of online social networking is rife with faux pas. From celebrities trolling hookup sites to people being fired for thinking they could blab about their boss on Facebook with impunity, there are countless tales of Internet lessons learned the hard way. And an ingenious — and some say dangerous — new site is out to demonstrate just how easy it is to find out when you’re away from your home so people can steal your stuff. [More]
MPAA Asks FCC For Control Of Your TV's Analog Outputs
By November 9, 2009
The Motion Picture Association of American wants to rent movies to TV viewers earlier in the release window, but they don’t want anyone potentially streaming that video out to other appliances. That’s why last week they went back to the FCC to once again ask for the power to disable analog ports on consumer television sets.
Google Invites Privacy-Concerned Users To Move To Remote Village
By August 12, 2009
The Onion reports that Google’s new privacy policy requires users who wish to opt out to relocate to a remote ghetto and abandon all contact with the outside world. (Photo: kalle svensson)
Jobs Confirms iPhone 'Kill Switch'
By August 11, 2008
Last week, a developer discovered that the iPhone has the capability to quietly connect to Apple’s servers to check an application blacklist, and then disable any installed apps that are on the list. The story was quickly defused by blogs, but today the Wall Street Journal says Steve Jobs has confirmed that there really is an application “kill switch.”
Want To Spy On Comcast Subscribers? Comcast Has The Job For You!
By June 4, 2008
If you’d like to help Comcast eavesdrop on its own subscribers, you’re in luck: Comcast has posted a job listing for an “intercept engineer” on a headhunter site, according to Wired. Want ad for position of The Man, inside.
By October 16, 2007
Verizon may have admitted it gives out customer info without warrants, but AT&T and Qwest both refused to give Congress any information on their participation in the government’s wire-tapping activities, saying they needed permission from Bush administration first. [Reuters]
Congress Asks AT&T, Verizon, And Qwest About Warrantless Wiretapping
By October 3, 2007
Qwest, Verizon, and AT&T have until October 12th to provide information on how the government went about asking for private customer records, and how the three companies provided the information. The Committee on Energy and Commerce opened an official investigation Tuesday. “If reports about the government surveillance program are accurate, Congress has a duty to inquire about whether such a program violates the Constitution, as well as consumer protection and privacy laws,” said committee chairman Rep. John Dingell.
Big Brother Watches Your Grandma
By August 29, 2007
Good Morning America ran a clip about how we’re using technology to keep tabs on Alzheimer’s patients. Verichip is a small barcode you inject into an old person that contains all their medical history.
Why Are Insurance Companies So Interested In Your Car's Onboard Computer System?
By April 28, 2007
Insurance companies are beginning to view the increasingly advanced onboard computer systems found on many vehicles as mini black-boxes. The data collected by the systems can help determine if a driver was speeding or driving recklessly.
It’s done by capturing data about speed, braking and steering input from what is called an event data recorder. And it’s going to get even more complex — already there are systems on some cars that warn when there’s a vehicle in a car’s blind spot, as well as anti-collision warning systems like the one currently featured in a Volvo commercial.
Marketing an Invasion of Privacy?
By November 3, 2006
According to CNet, “The Washington-based U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Digital Democracy have asked the Federal Trade Commission to review–and ideally restrict–what they describe as a growing online business model dependent on technologies that “aggressively track us wherever we go, creating data profiles to be used in ever-more sophisticated and personalized ‘one-to-one’ targeting schemes.”
