http://abcnews.go.com/Business/identity-theft-2013-battle-data/story?id=18039470
Identity Theft in 2013: Battle for Your Data
In 2013, we'll have to make a choice: Either we acknowledge we're at war and push back hard, or we keep pretending nothing's wrong -- and pay the price.
Frankly, this situation is insane. Practically every day, someone flags risks and makes dire predictions -- all deadly accurate, by the way -- but unless there's a class action suit pending, or an entire grid in darkness, no one seems to give a damn. Check your credit report? Only one out of five really do. Encrypt your database? "Encryption is hard." Friends, the barbarians are no longer at the gate, they're in our homes eating off our best china -- yet we can't be bothered to deal with them. The signs of things to come are everywhere -- but like a man crossing a highway blindfolded, we refuse to see what's coming.
This year the situation must change. For the next few minutes, I invite you to take off the blindfold and look reality right in the eye.
A war is being waged both here and abroad against our people, our economy, our institutions, indeed, our way of life. But until we take that seriously and respond strategically, we're in for a serious can of whoop-ass. Even a fool can see where the enemy is headed
folks are talking the talk, but few are walking the walk.
malicious programmer sneaks a malware-bearing app past smartphone gatekeepers and millions of users realize the honeymoon is over.
Note that Europe already suffered the first large-scale attack on financial accounts via mobile phones: Eurograbber, a mobile SMS keylogger scam that pumped 36 million euros out of 30,000 European bank accounts. Make no mistake, we're next.
Mega breaches of government data.
If anyone learned a lesson, it was the criminals.
This is war -- and whether the attacks come from hackers in Latvia, agents in Beijing, a botnet stretched across the globe, or the quiet employee in the next office, the adversary is the same, as is the M.O. These guys have one more thing in common: They play for keeps. So should we.
http://www.newsmax.com/SciTech/facebook-german-names-lawsuit/2012/12/18/id/468228
Facebook Rejects German Demand to Allow Fake Names
Facebook will fight a German privacy watchdog's demand to allow users to register with fake names, insisting Tuesday that its current practice fully complies with the law.
The California-based social networking site has long required users to register with their real names – a policy that the data protection commissioner of Schleswig-Holstein state says is in breach of German law and European rules designed to protect free speech online.
The commissioner, Thilo Weichert, ordered Facebook on Monday to rescind its real name policy immediately.
"We believe the orders are without merit, a waste of German taxpayers' money and we will fight it vigorously," Facebook said in a statement.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3078835/t/online-privacy-fears-are-real/
online privacy fears are real
A 20-year-old woman stalked through the Internet and killed. Thousands of e-commerce customers watching as their credit card numbers are sold online for $1 apiece. Internet chat rooms where identities are bought, sold and traded like options on the Chicago Board of Trade. These are the horror stories dredged up by privacy advocates who say the Net’s threat to personal privacy can’t be dismissed as mere paranoia. And, they say, we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.
consumers generally want to share as little as possible.
Complicating matters further are criminals who break into Web sites, steal the information and use it for personal gain.
Advertising firms, who stand to gain as much as any from personal data collection, have absorbed the brunt of complaints from privacy critics. But Rick Jackson, once a marketer and now CEO of privacy technology firm Privada Inc., thinks ad firms like DoubleClick are serving as an unwitting smokescreen for the real privacy problems.
“There are a lot more people tracking you than you think,”
“The data world is a very powerful and lucrative marketplace with a lot of players involved.” For evidence, he points to a Washington Post story that revealed that 11 pharmaceutical companies - including Pfizer Inc., SmithKline Beecham PLC, Glaxo Wellcome PLC - had formed an alliance and were tracking every click consumers made across their sites, then comparing notes. Consumers were never told.
“Everybody points to advertising. That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Jackson said. “We as consumers don’t have any knowledge of what really goes on out there.”
At its heart, the Internet privacy problem is a paradox.
The Net was born as an open research tool, and thus was never designed to allow privacy or security. But at the same time, the Net seems to offer perfect anonymity, and most users behave as if they cannot be seen.
“A lot of people think about privacy but don’t really care until something happens to them personally,” said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. “It’s like freedom. You don’t appreciate it until it’s gone. If you are a victim of identity theft, you experience a change of world view, you realize how little control you have over your world.”
RealNetworks, maker of popular video software, was twice accused of surreptitiously telling its programs to “phone home” and tattle on users surfing habits to the firm. Mattel Interactive had to admit it embedded phone home software called “Broadcast” in its Reader Rabbit software. Surf Monkey, which prevents children from accessing inappropriate sites, also transmits data like user IP addresses back to its maker.
In a June survey, most of the top 90 sites surveyed had polices indicating personal information would not be shipped to third parties. A follow-up survey in November revealed that most site policies now indicate firms retain the right to sell the information to outside parties, leaving the burden on consumers to “opt out.” In fact, only 30 percent of the 90 sites surveyed guarantee they won’t sell information
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, disagrees, saying the problem from cyber-criminals is hardly 21st-century hype, since stealing digital information is so much easier than tapping phone calls or grabbing letters from a mail box. It’s also much more thorough.
http://www.technewsworld.com/perl/section/privacy/
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/76715.html
Google Play Takes Away Reviewers' Mask of Anonymity
Google has begun to require that reviewers on Google Play be signed in through Google+.
"Users who wish to remain anonymous can either sign out of their accounts and not receive the enhancements,Google will only allow user comments in Google Play accompanied by user's Google+ name and picture.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/76320.html
Facebook Scans Private Conversations to Pad Likes
Facebook apparently has its own polling logic. Based on its perusal of users' private conversations, it assigns Likes to websites. You share a link with a friend -- you Like it. Maybe you even Like it twice. "Facebook appears to be data mining activities that users clearly intend to [keep] private," said tech analyst Greg Sterling. "This is another privacy misstep for Facebook."
never mind that the link you're sharing may concern something you abhor. Call it a case of Like fraud.
This is all the more worrisome to users because Facebook is culling links from seemingly private messages and converting them into very public Likes. This raises the question of whether private information could be made public
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/76866.html
Stallman and Ubuntu: Sticks and Stones and a Blogosphere Brawl
Spying was probably "not the idea behind the Unity tool," said Google+ blogger Gonzalo Velasco C. "I think they are struggling to become a nice 'normal user' OS, with some helping, commercial tools." Nevertheless, "it's mandatory for a GNU/Linux distribution to warn the user, and easily allow them to switch on/off such a tool. I hope Canonical rethinks that tool."
It was only a few weeks ago that the Linux blogosphere's Punchy Penguin Saloon suffered its latest round of damage thanks to the recent skirmish over the GPL, but now the popular establishment of questionable repute is actually shut down for a week for repairs.
The cause this time?
Yet another blogosphere brawl, needless to say, focusing this time on Ubuntu and its newly installed "surveillance code," as legendary Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman called it in a recent blog post.
"If we can only say, 'free software won't spy on you, unless it's Ubuntu,' that's much less powerful than saying, 'free software won't spy on you,'" Stallman explained.
'Just a Bit Childish'
If you've spent five minutes in the Linux community you're no doubt already aware that debate is never in short supply.
As if on cue, "FUD" was the term Ubuntu community manager Jono Bacon chose to describe Stallman's comments in a blog post of his own shortly thereafter.
"This just seems a bit childish," Bacon added.
'It Was Wrong of Me'
Fast-forward three days, however, and Bacon issued an apology.
"Unfortunately, sometimes I end up saying some things I wish I hadn't, as is the case here," Bacon wrote in a fresh post last Monday.
'They Made a Big Mistake'
"I tend to prefer Jono's handling of the situation, but at the same time there is something profoundly wrong about what Ubuntu did here," Google+ blogger Kevin O'Brien told Linux Girl.
"To me, it all hinges on it being opt-out instead of opt-in," he explained. "The fact that they did it as opt-out means that by 'the tyranny of the default,' lots of people are going to be sending their information without intending to, or even in many cases without knowing that they are doing it.
"I want Canonical to be commercially viable, but I think they made a big mistake on this one," O'Brien concluded.
'It's Mandatory to Warn the User'
Indeed, "I am very concerned about such issues," began Google+ blogger Gonzalo Velasco C.
At the same time, however, spying was probably "not the idea behind the Unity tool," he added. "I think they are struggling to become a nice 'normal user' OS, with some helping, commercial tools."
Nevertheless, "it's mandatory for a GNU/Linux distribution to warn the user, and easily allow them to switch on/off such a tool," Gonzalo Velasco C. opined.
'Unquestionably Spyware'
'The Only Way One Can Make a Living'
'The Market Will Decide'
Is there any alternative to trusting corporations?
"I doubt it," Pogson told Linux Girl. "The market will decide whether FLOSS wins there, and so far GNU/Linux is doing exceedingly well just based on price/performance."
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/76835.html
Facebook Gives a Little, Gets a Little With New Privacy Settings
Facebook has changed its privacy controls after conducting a vote on the matter that was doomed from the start to be irrelevant. Facebook claims the tweaks to its system will make it easier for users to access and understand their privacy settings, and that may be true. However, it also appears that users' timelines will be more searchable, which may be a key reason underlying Facebook's move.
For example, a new icon on the toolbar will allow users to ask three questions: Who can see my stuff? Who can contact me? and How do I stop someone from bothering me? For further information, users go to the Privacy Settings page, which will be repositioned below the Security option under Account Settings.
New Search Tool?
Not all of the changes are welcomed by privacy advocates. Users will not be able to keep their timelines out of the search tool, for instance.
Just Stay Off Facebook
The fact is, the only way for Facebook users to keep their information private is to stay off Facebook
"If Facebook were completely honest," said Levinson, "it would say 'don't put anything on Facebook or any online system if you want it to be private.'"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_law
http://thehardrightnews.com/high-tech-invasion-of-your-privacy-rights/
I cringe every time I hear people refer to Apple or Microsoft or Google as tech companies. Don’t be ridiculous! Google searches are a single algorithm, one equation.
The only improvements Google has made in a decade are subliminal ways to track you and your searches. Their “secret code” has created a detailed profile of you. They tailor all your search results so you find what you want faster and buy it faster with fewer clicks so merchants get a higher click through rate on their advertising.
Apple’s products track where you are every second of every day.
Microsoft regularly downloads so many “updates” to your PC you have to wonder what’s going on.
Why do we have to buy a whole new machine (I shutter to even call Windows a machine) every 2 years? So 100,000 Chinese programmers can re-write a billion lines of code with each new “upgrade”? With ten thousand new bugs that a million hackers around the world can use to make my life miserable?
The only solution is not to use all this technology crap anymore.
& Get off the InterNET
