privacy | Ain't Complicated

Buzzed a la Google

I know this is long. And I know it’s about three favorite services on the Web: Google, Gmail, and Buzz.

But it really is an essential read. Even if you think privacy and security are passé in a pleasantly quaint and/or outright irritating sort of way.

On February 9, 2010, many Gmail users woke up to find a slightly different look to their inbox, along with some never-before-seen features. They were told that this was Google’s latest attempt at creating a social networking and messaging tool; it would be called Google Buzz. The company designed the service to seamlessly integrate with the company’s web-based email program, allowing its users to share links, photos, videos, status messages, and comments that would be organized in a “conversations” section of their inbox.

It seemed cool enough, but what many users didn’t know is that they were now sharing what was thought to be private information with other Gmail users.

Google executive Sergey Brin recently said that it was Google’s intention to “help bridge the gap between work and leisure,” but many parents feared for their children’s safety and strongly criticized Google for taking little to no account of privacy concerns for Gmail users who are underage.

[…]

Similar concerns have come up as a result of another Google feature that has yet to be disabled. Apparently by default, the mobile version of Google Buzz publishes a person’s exact location when they post any type of message to the service. This particular feature could be disastrous for many reasons, but especially if a user is in a situation similar to the woman discussed previously, i.e. has an abusive ex who can now track her down at a moment’s notice.

Not only that, but there are a thousand scenarios in which this could be dangerous for children. What if a young student updates Google Buzz using their mobile phone while walking home from school alone, unaware of the fact that complete strangers can be “following” them on the service? These are the types of concerns many believe Google isn’t taking into account or taking seriously enough.

[…]

“If your child has a Gmail account, talk to them about what Google Buzz is and how they should be properly using it,” Li said. “Please take action, which may be as dramatic as completely disabling Buzz on your child’s account. Do this as soon as possible, as I’m concerned that unsavory characters are already exploiting this parental control loophole.”

Now please read the full article: The Trials and Tribulations of Google Buzz.

Smart Meter: A New Spy?

Portland General Electric let us know we’ll be getting one of these before too long.

I was looking forward to it. I think I still am (because it sure seems like our monthly electric bills are high). But this article greatly dampens my forward look, so to speak:

Computer-security researchers say new “smart” meters that are designed to help deliver electricity more efficiently also have flaws that could let hackers tamper with the power grid in previously impossible ways.

At the very least, the vulnerabilities open the door for attackers to jack up strangers’ power bills. These flaws also could get hackers a key step closer to exploiting one of the most dangerous capabilities of the new technology, which is the ability to remotely turn someone else’s power on and off.

The attacks could be pulled off by stealing meters — which can be situated outside of a home — and reprogramming them. Or an attacker could sit near a home or business and wirelessly hack the meter from a laptop, according to Joshua Wright, a senior security analyst with InGuardians Inc. The firm was hired by three utilities to study their smart meters’ resistance to attack.

[…]

Unlike traditional electric meters that merely record power use — and then must be read in person once a month by a meter reader — smart meters measure consumption in real time. By being networked to computers in electric utilities, the new meters can signal people or their appliances to take certain actions, such as reducing power usage when electricity prices spike.

But the very interactivity that makes smart meters so attractive also makes them vulnerable to hackers, because each meter essentially is a computer connected to a vast network.

[…]

But many security researchers say the technology is being deployed without enough security probing.

If hackers can get that far, what’s to keep them from hacking into my computers even when they’re off-line? (You know, entering my machines through the power plug instead of the phone jack.)

And what’s to keep governments from conspiring with manufacturers (or secret agents at manufacturing plants) to put “bugs” in electrical devices? The idea of my toaster or my bedside clock or my phone answering machine eavesdropping and tattling on me is not a pleasant thought. Maybe it’s time to come up with a not-so-new lifestyle mantra: Go Amish!

OK, so now I’ve given the kooks more material. Sorry. 🙄

Well, you can read the full article here: New ‘smart’ meters for electrical utilities have security holes

Three Facebook Settings

Got Facebook? Have you adjusted your user privacy settings since December?

Whether you have or not, this may be a good article for you to read.

In December, Facebook made a series of bold and controversial changes regarding the nature of its users’ privacy on the social networking site. The company once known for protecting privacy to the point of exclusivity (it began its days as a network for college kids only – no one else even had access), now seemingly wants to compete with more open social networks like the microblogging media darling Twitter.

[…]

Considering that Facebook itself is no longer looking out for you, it’s time to be proactive about things and look out for yourself instead. Taking a few minutes to run through all the available privacy settings and educating yourself on what they mean could mean the world of difference to you at some later point…That is, unless you agree with Facebook in thinking that the world is becoming more open and therefore you should too.

Source: The 3 Facebook Settings Every User Should Check Now

How Privacy Vanishes Online

Balance Them!

Privacy

Social Media

OK, I know. I’m spitting in the cyber wind again.

But I refuse to accept the premise that privacy no longer matters.

Or even that privacy is more public than it used to be.

Yet people often dole out all kinds of personal information on the Internet that allows such identifying data to be deduced. Services like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr are oceans of personal minutiae — birthday greetings sent and received, school and work gossip, photos of family vacations, and movies watched.

Computer scientists and policy experts say that such seemingly innocuous bits of self-revelation can increasingly be collected and reassembled by computers to help create a picture of a person’s identity, sometimes down to the Social Security number.

[…]

In social networks, people can increase their defenses against identification by adopting tight privacy controls on information in personal profiles. Yet an individual’s actions, researchers say, are rarely enough to protect privacy in the interconnected world of the Internet.

You may not disclose personal information, but your online friends and colleagues may do it for you, referring to your school or employer, gender, location and interests. Patterns of social communication, researchers say, are revealing.

[…]

His advice: “When you’re doing stuff online, you should behave as if you’re doing it in public — because increasingly, it is.”

Source: New York Times

You really should read the parts I left out.

Are You a Fishing Spot?

Or to put it another way, did you cause anyone’s flag to wave?

Still not getting my drift?

Facts are stubborn things: Flag the fishy spots!

Facts are stubborn things, indeed. 😯

OK, so maybe Macon Phillips will end up resigning or being fired over that Facts Are Stubborn Things, If You Smell Something Fishy, Be An Informant post at the White House blog. Or maybe we will end up losing some of our trust in those with whom we interact, as we wonder whether they will find us fishy in some way. Or maybe freedom of press and informants will co-exist just fine

But, really, what about what we say?

How did your speech and/or email communications qualify today? Or Facebook or Twitter or MySpace or Xanga or Blogger or WordPress or other online forums?

Something fishy?

Will you and your writing/speaking make a good fishing spot?

Would you want someone to inform on you?

Look. What the White House is thinking and opining is important enough.

But what God opines and thinks is infinitely of greater importance and consequence.

“In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise” (Proverbs 10:19).

“He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction” (Proverbs 13:3).

“Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles” (Proverbs 21:23).

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:36,37).

“I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me” (Psalm 39:1).

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

Oh, you’re wondering why I would file this under Endangered Christians? Hmmm. If this fishing expedition sticks, do you really think it will be remain under its publicly posted limitations?

Now chew on that one, will ya?

After all, facts are stubborn things!

This Is News?!

More importantly, is it news that the average American cares about?

And even more important than that, do you care about this?

The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over the extent of its domestic surveillance program, with critics in Congress saying its recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged, current and former officials said.

Then there’s this later in the story:

it is unavoidable that some innocent discussions of Americans will be examined.

Do you mind if something you say or write is examined?

How about anything?

How about everything?

“Oh be careful little tongue…. Oh be careful little hands….”

Yeah, that’s part of a children’s song that I and you would be wise to follow.

Source: E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress