There’s big business in tracking web browsing, and temptation to grab more information than is legally acceptable. A lawsuit alleges a web analytics company and its clients stepped over the line in snooping on browsing habits, particularly of those who try to cover their tracks. [More]
How The Biggest Sites Are Stalking You And Reselling Your Info
By July 29, 2011
Most websites you visit are monitoring your behavior, even after you leave. They install little files like cookies, beacons, and flash cookies to see where you go, what you buy, even what text you’re typing. WSJ analyzed the tracking behavior of the top 50 websites online to see how each of them is watching your every step, and then reselling the info to the highest bidder. For instance, did you know that Dictionary.com gives its users up to 159 cookies, 23 flash cookies and 41 beacons for third parties? [More]
Law From 1988 Keeps Netflix And Facebook From Buddying Up
By July 26, 2011
Back in the late 1980s, lawmakers were determined to prevent movie rental companies from publishing customers’ rental history. The Video Privacy Protection Act made violations punishable by $2,500 per offense. Now the law is causing headaches for Facebook and Netflix because it’s reportedly written in a way that would forbid Netflix from publishing your rental history on your Facebook page. [More]
Researcher: 8 Percent Of Android Apps Leak Private Info
By July 21, 2011
Free apps sometimes come at a hidden cost, because malicious software can come in seemingly harmless forms, exposing personal data and sending spammy text messages from users’ accounts. An anti-malware service provider studied 10,000 Android apps found that 800 of the programs were spreading personal data around, and 11 were spamming phony text messages. [More]
Video Of 25,727 Passwords From The Sony Hack, One Per Frame
By July 6, 2011
Stare agog as all the the passwords released in the Sony LulzSec breach race past your eyes in this video. [More]
Apt. Complex Using DNA To Find Who's Not Curbing Their Dog
By June 28, 2011
Call it CSI: Timberwood Commons. WMUR reports the manager of the apartment complex there is making all the of the dog owners in the building submit DNA samples from their dogs. Then she will compare it with the DNA of the dog poop that’s been left around the grounds to find out who hasn’t been cleaning up after their dog. [More]
FICO Sells New Score That Predicts Whether You Will Take Your Medicine
By June 21, 2011
Are you going to be a good boy and take your medicine? Next time your Mom won’t have to ask you. She can just check your FICO Medication Adherence Score. The same people who make the standard credit scoring model have turned their data mining drills and abacuses onto medicine. They’re selling a new score that says can predict if you will take your medication correctly. [More]
New Service Adds Your Drunken Facebook Photos To Employer Background Checks, For Up To Seven Years
By June 21, 2011
The FTC has given thumbs up to a company, Social Intelligence Corp., selling a new kind of employee background check to employers. This one scours the internet for your posts and pictures to social media sites and creates a file of all the dumb stuff you ever uploaded online. For instance, this sample they provided was flagged for “Demonstrating potentially violent behavior” because of “flagrant display of weapons or bombs.” [More]
Computer Tech Allegedly Snaps Nude Pics Of Victims With Their Own Machines
By June 9, 2011
A warning to computer owners everywhere: If someone who repairs your machine advises you to set up your laptop in a place in which it can potentially see you when you step out of the shower, beware that he might have tricked you into taking naked pictures of yourself for him. [More]
Hackers Say They've Stolen Email Addresses, Passwords Of Sony Pictures And Sony BMG Customers
By June 3, 2011
Sony’s troubles with hackers continue. Now that the company has recovered from the PlayStation Network outage and lengthy rebuilding process, hackers claim to have stolen and posted email addresses and passwords from 50,000 Sony customers on the Sony Pictures and Sony BMG sites. [More]
Xbox Gamer Allegedly Tricks SWAT Team Into Investigating Rival's Home
By June 2, 2011
An online gaming disagreement turned into a nightmare for a gamer who refused to do the bidding of a person he spoke to over Xbox Live. The victim alleges a rival somehow discovered his name, address and phone number, then falsely reported a murder-suicide at his home, causing a SWAT team to descend on his home. [More]
TSA Could Ban Flights From Texas If State Passes Anti-Patdown Law
By May 25, 2011
A showdown is in the works over an anti-patdown law, which the Texas House of Representatives recently approved by a unanimous vote. The government warns that passage of the law could cause the TSA to “cancel any flight” where it couldn’t ensure passenger safety. Texas legislators say the rule is needed because existing laws “let government employees fondle innocent women, children and men.”
ID Theft: Fix Some Fraudulent Accounts Before Correcting Legit Ones
By May 25, 2011
One of the side effects of someone using your identity to open up a bunch of accounts and leaving you saddled with the bills is that your credit history gets trashed, which means you get victimized a second time over as your real creditors jack up your interest rates and take other adverse action. Your bank account could even get frozen, making you late on some bills. But before you go plead your case to get your credit restored with them, you’ll want to fix some of the fraudulent accounts first. [More]
Twitter Faces "Super-Injunction" Challenge Over User Privacy
By May 23, 2011
Thousands of Twitter users have posted comments about a rumored affair between a British soccer player and a reality-TV star, and have included the athlete’s name, despite a British law that allows individuals to get a “super-injunction” blocking publication of their name. The player has now used that injunction to get a court order demanding that Twitter reveal the account information of users who’ve posted his name. [More]
Should We Put Cameras On Cops?
By May 19, 2011
Following allegations police had stolen a laptop and a digital camera from a suspect’s house, San Francisco PD is considering equipping officers with a head-mounted video camera to document searches and arrests and make sure they’re being conducted appropriately. Is this a good idea? Take our poll and sound off. [More]
FTC Complaint: Dropbox Misinformed Users About Security
By May 16, 2011
According to a Federal Trade Commission complaint lodged against online storage service Dropbox, users were told they had more security than they actually did. [More]
Your Rented Computer Could Be Spying On You
By May 3, 2011
According to a recently filed lawsuit, a big rental chain installs physical hardware and software into its rented computers, capturing the keystrokes, screenshots, and even webcam images of unsuspecting customers. The only way to disable it is by waving an electronic “wand” over the device. The spyware was revealed when a store manager for the chain showed up at renter’s house to try to repossess the laptop and showed the renter a picture of him taken by the webcam, unbeknownst to him, by the leased laptop. [More]
