Tracking users and devices as they browse the web is a common thing these days and has been for many years. The technology has evolved from the original tracking cookie to some of the more advanced methods in use now, but the concept is the same. How can someone identify an object on the internet and follow it. Regardless of whether the information is used for “legitimate” or nefarious purposes, the technology remains and continues to move forward.

In 2012 ago we heard about a new type of internet tracking that involved making every computer identify itself and then following that ID around. At the time we thought the idea was very interesting. What we did not know was that the technology was already being worked on and ready for testing. The new type of identification was put together after very strict laws were put in place about the use of tracking cookies. Data miners and advertising companies needed a new method to see what you were doing.

Nokia Treasure Tag pendant is designed to be attached to the important things, like keys or bags. This amendment is mentioned for almost a year, and now it's officially unveiled.

Most people are aware of small bits that are used to identify and track your computer on the internet and no, I am not talking about the NSA. We are talking about cookies and there are no end users that I know of that like them. If you look around you will find that there are tons of utilities, applications and plug-ins that will help you avoid or delete cookies from your system. Yet these annoyances (in addition to being more than a little invasive) are still around after more than 15 years. However, there is some potentially good news about this as we hear that Google is looking to move away from the use of third party cookies for tracking your movement on the internet.

In the current climate with accusations flying back and forth about user data collection you would think that telling people they are actively being tracked and monitored by a device you are selling is a bad idea. However, this is what Apple is doing with a new “feature” in iOS 7 and they seem to think that it is something people will be interested in. The new feature is innocuously called Improve Map, but what it does is something that we are not sure people will want to leave turned on.

Losing a pet can be one of the more difficult things a person can endure. Many people care very deeply for their dogs, cats, or other non-human friends. But what happens when your pet gets lost? Without a collar or an externally identifying tag, it can be difficult at best for a complete stranger to locate the proper owner of the animal. Microchips solve this problem.

The FBI is getting on the biometric bandwagon as they are moving forward with a program to help them catch bad guys. The problem with the program, as always, is that these same systems that are intended to keep us safe can be abused. The new program dubbed The Next Generation Identification program is a $1 Billion “upgrade” to the national finger print database. The new system adds in a few items that could be very helpful in tracking down and catching the “bad guys”. The new data includes pictures, voice prints, iris scans, DNA and potentially more.