On January 23, the U.S. Supreme Court issued three concurring opinions in U.S. versus Jones, two of which express strong concerns about government use of ostensibly public information about private citizens. As it turns out, the FBI hasn’t been idle either, and the Supreme Court’s worries aren’t at all theoretical. On January 19, the FBI […]
This Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in U.S. v. Jones, both addressing and evading key concepts of privacy in relation to the Fourth Amendment and the ways in which emerging technology affects such privacy. The Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures “in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,” is […]
Back when I attended Stern College at Yeshiva University there was a whispered secret in the computer lab: “Check out SternGirls.com.” Thanks to a complete lack of filters, students could verify that the website that carried our name was indeed a porn site. Over a decade later, Yeshiva University is cutting off access to porn […]
Ever log onto Facebook and find that someone has tagged a photo of you that you’d rather not be in your newsfeed? Or maybe they’ve tagged you to get your attention for some reason? Either way, Facebook now has you covered with a ton of privacy-related updates. While most sites are praising the ability to […]
Amidst the ever-escalating battle against computer crime, law enforcement receives a new tool. The Aircheck, by Fluke, is a WiFi tester for network professionals. I have several problems with this strategy. First of all, police are not network professionals.
Yesterday, Facebook’s Security Department was contacted by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). No, it’s not because of the social network’s obtrusive new chat layout, but it does have to do with growing concerns over security and privacy issues in a tangential way. The CDDR requested that any Facebook accounts set up or […]
XDA forum member Marko! (hurray for exclamation marks in usernames) discovered that the current Facebook app in the Android market allows you to view photos of folks who aren’t on your friends list, as long as you can click on their name somewhere in your feed. What, you didn’t actually think Facebook was totally secure, did […]
Imagine clicking on a popular Tumblr blog and seeing your own face stare back at you. If you’d shopped at one of two NY Apple stores recently, it could happen. According to the Huffington Post, artist Kyle McDonald is under investigation for Fraud and related activity in connection with computers.’” Now, Mr. McDonald is arguing […]
Google+ profiles offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to privacy, but there are three pieces of information on them that are open to the public. Your name, gender, and profile picture are visible not just to your Circles and Google+ users, but the entire internet. That information shows up through Google’s own search […]
The last year has seen concerns over privacy on Facebook rise to new heights. Every new feature seems to be designed to automatically share more user information, on an opt-out basis, and the controls that let users opt out of services they never wanted to be a part of are buried under layer after layer […]
