Privacy

Facebook notifies members about Beacon settlement

An e-mail was sent on Thursday to Facebook users who were members at the time that its controversial, now-defunct Beacon advertising program was operated: it's the official notice about the proposed settlement for the class-action lawsuit against Beacon. The terms of the settlement have been public since September, but the court-ordered summary notice is the last step in the process before final approval on February 26.

"This is not a settlement in which class members file claims to receive compensation," the notice explained (possibly crushing the hopes of any Facebook members who might have got excited that … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1117: There will be Facebook groups!

Facebook's changing its privacy policy, and Molly and Rafe predict there will be groups. I don't think anyone cares about regional groups, but hey, I could be wrong. We also talk about why Steve Jobs personally approved an app that currently doesn't work. And Richard comes up with a brilliant idea for the future of news.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1117

Google alters news indexing to accommodate pay walls http://www.pcworld.com/article/183526/google_alters_news_indexing_to_accommodate_pay_walls.html http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUSGEE5B11Y120091202… Read more

Tips for safe online shopping

Shopping online does carry some risk, but so does shopping at brick-and-mortar stores. At least online shoppers don't need to worry about fender-benders in the parking lot, pick pockets at the mall, or getting the flu from all those fellow shoppers.

But the nice thing about shopping online is that by following some basic guidelines you can be reasonably sure you'll have a safe experience.

Secure your PC: The first thing you need to do is be sure your computer is secure. Trend Micro's education director David Perry, says that "bad guys these days are operating … Read more

Confidential 9/11 pager messages disclosed

As the World Trade Center and Pentagon were ablaze on September 11, 2001, the U.S. Secret Service's presidential protective detail was informed that a "Korean airliner has been hijacked" en route to San Francisco, prompting already-skittish agents to worry about another wave of terrorist attacks.

That morning and afternoon, Secret Service agents assigned to protect the president and his family found their pagers constantly buzzing with alerts both true and false. There was a false alarm about a car bomb in downtown Washington, D.C., a report of "two Arab males detained" after asking … Read more

Facebook adopts new privacy policy

Facebook on Tuesday announced that it has decided to adopt a revised privacy policy designed to be more accessible and easier to understand.

The social network had just completed a weeklong comment period for the new revision and, though "a lot of people participated," less than 7,000 members commented. According to Facebook's rules, this meant that a vote was unnecessary, Michael Richter, Facebook deputy general counsel, wrote in a company blog.

Overall, members supported the proposed changes, including the simplification of the language used to describe the policy and the document's new structure, Richter said. … Read more

T-Mobile UK says workers sold customer data

Updated November 18 at 11:19 a.m. PST to clarify that the data was sold by workers at T-Mobile UK, which is operated separately from T-Mobile USA.

T-Mobile workers sold personal data on thousands of customers to third parties who then called the individuals as their wireless contracts were due to expire, a T-Mobile UK spokesman has confirmed.

T-Mobile notified England's Information Commission, the watchdog agency responsible for safeguarding consumer privacy, and said the activity was done "without our knowledge," according to the BBC.

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham told the news agency his office will prosecute … Read more

Convicted murderer sues Wikipedia under privacy law

Here's the story. Or at least most of it.

Some 19 years ago, a man in Germany, together with his half brother, reportedly murdered an actor named Walter Sedlmayr. The man was convicted and served 15 years in jail.

Now he is free. And, according to Wired, he has exercised that freedom by instructing lawyers, the elegantly named firm of Stopp and Stopp, to sue Wikipedia.

The lawsuit claims that German privacy law, designed to help criminals re-integrate into society, prevents the man being named in association with Walter Sedlmayr's murder.

Wired quotes Jennifer Granick from the Electronic … Read more

Wrapping up Speeds and Feeds, part 4: Security

Nothing disappoints me more about the evolution of the personal computer than the PC's lack of ubiquitous security.

There's no technical reason why PCs can't provide strong security. Improving security costs money, which provides a business reason not to do it, but the way I see it, the costs associated with insecure computing have long since eclipsed the costs of making systems more secure.

It's also true that there's always a way around any layer of protection, which is sometimes taken as another argument against improving security. As the argument goes, you have to be … Read more

Google privacy controls: Most people won't care

Google's biggest threat is no longer Microsoft. It is itself.

As the company harvests copious quantities of personal data, it becomes dramatically better at serving customer needs...

...and at freaking them out over privacy concerns.

In other words, Google gets stronger with every Google Doc created, every Google Voice call dialed, and every Gmail e-mail sent. It becomes stronger because data is the heart of the Web's biggest businesses, as Redmonk analyst Stephen O'Grady implies.

But in so doing Google also becomes more threatening to the very consumers it is trying to serve.

Google Dashboard is meant … Read more