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Displaying items by tag: Privacy

Facebook-logoFacebook has finally bought facial recognition company Face.com. For those of you that do not know Face.com are the people behind the facial recognition API in Facebook and their Apps for both iOS and Android. This technology (that is also used in a few other apps) has brought about a wave of privacy concerns (as is tagging of any kind really). It is known that Face.com stores face information in a database and is capable up dating facial information as more pictures of an individual are tagged. This can be used to create a very accurate likeness model of someone regardless of what they do to change or conceal their appearance (with the exception of radical plastic surgery or prosthetics).

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73Wow… I can remember rather vividly trying to get out of trouble for doing something as a kid with the rather flimsy excuse of “but everyone is doing it”. To make a long story short here, that did not work and I had to face my consequences over my misdeed. So if that excuse does not work with my parents (and believe me it does not work with a traffic cop either). How is it that corporations can get away with it?

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Tuesday, 05 June 2012 11:50

Are Cloud Services Really A Better Deal?

cloud-computing-badWhen we first started to hear rumblings about Microsoft’s next version of Windows we were told that it would be positioned as the center piece of a connected home. Now at the time we took this to mean an internal environment with connectivity to gaming consoles, media centers (or hubs) and of course Windows Home Server. What we did not expect was for Microsoft to shovel the cloud and their cloud based services down the consumer’s throats.

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facebook_moneyRemember when we told you that Facebook was going to allow companies to pay to promote certain posts? Well it is now in full swing as it looks like Facebook has rolled out the service to everyone’s pages. Over the last week we have been having issues with posting links on the DecryptedTech Facebook page, yet when we reported the issue there was almost no response from Facebook about the issue. As it turns out this issue was due to the changes that Facebook was making behind the scenes.

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facebook_moneySo the rumors about a “Facebook” phone have begun to pop up again. This time they are claiming that the arrival date of the social device will be sometime next year. These rumors are being fueled by other rumors (which is how you do it) and all seem to back up the possibility that Facebook might indeed be looking to try and enter the smart phone arena. How smart this decision is remains to be seem, but for now let’s just take a look at some of the supporting evidence.

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News_manstealingdataTwo days ago we wrote an article that stated quite plainly that confidence in cloud services is actually beginning to fade as security and privacy concerns mount. At the time we talked very briefly about one of the leading reasons for the push to the cloud. That is “ownership” of your data in all of its forms. We are not just talking about files here though. We are talking about ALL of your data. This includes companies like Facebook, Google, Bing, and more. They want your information because it is worth money to them.

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despdGoogle has been competing with Facebook for a long time. This goes back to before the launch of their Google+ social networking service. We have honestly never bothered to see what the original reasons for the competition are since the two companies originally did not even operate in the same market space. Google is all about ads and Facebook is really all about gathering… Ah there it is. So now that we have hit the nail on the head so to speak let’s talk about this little rivalry along with some of the fun stuff that is rumored to be going on and that is really going on.

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twitter_bird_logoWe missed this one on the 8th, but it is an important step for privacy right and the ability of the government to ask for everything they want. We had told you not that long ago how prosecutors were demanding information from Blogs, Twitter and other Social Media about people involved in the Occupy movement. This demand raised quite a storm as most felt it was an outlandish request (well actually prosecuting people for protesting is ridiculous as well) considering what they were after.

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90After watching the Department of Homeland Security try to force new amendments allowing them very expanded powers to police and control the Internet it seems the FBI wants to get in on some of this too. You see The FBI and law enforcement are having a hard time doing their job (according to them) and their current methods for gathering information with a warrant are just not enough. They would like Mandatory backdoors into online communication services like Skype, MSN, Gmail etc.

Published in Editorials
Sunday, 29 April 2012 14:12

Microsoft Playing the PR Game with CISPA...

bill-of-rightsIt seems that Microsoft is working the PR angle again. First we saw this when it was obvious that public opinion was turning against it with SOPA and PIPA. They distanced themselves from the BSA (Business Software Alliance) and then released a statement saying that they could not support SOPA in its current incarnation. This time Microsoft is doing the PR shift with CISPA. They released a statement to CNET saying pretty much the same thing while not really opposing the actual bill or its ramifications.

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