In today’s Quick Hits, we look into Facebook’s new “panic” button, the latest in Google’s Street View controversy, a bug in Facebook’s log-in page, and why Teri Hatcher probably won’t be adding more photos to her social networking profiles anytime soon.
Facebook’s “panic button” has been used to report suspicious online behavior by more than 200 Brits. The app was introduced to the social network in July, following the murder of Ashleigh Hall, a 17-year-old who met her killer on Facebook. Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, who developed the button, says that suspicious behavior reports have increased seven-fold.
The Google Street View controversy keeps growing and growing. This week, Google announced that it would introduce its Street View service for the country’s 20 largest cities by the end of the year. In response, Germany is considering a law that would place stricter boundaries on the mapping service and similar apps. According to an Interior Ministry spokesman, the German cabinet plans to meet next week to issue an opinion on the matter.
Facebook has fixed a bug that could have been used by spammers to engineer phishing attacks on users. When a user entered the wrong password on the log-in page, the “Incorrect Password” page included their full name and profile photo. This could have been used to link e-mail IDs with FB users. Secfence Technologies’s Atul Agarwal says, “Facebook users have no control over this, even as this works when you have set all privacy settings properly. Harvesting this data is very easy, as it can be easily bypassed by using a bunch of proxies.”
Teri Hatcher is regretting the photos she recently posted on her Facebook. To prove she hasn’t had Botox in her face, the Desperate Housewives star uploaded 9 candid snaps of herself for her fans to see. Unfortunately, Hatcher didn’t realize that international press could get a hold of them until it was too late. She says, “Honestly, I am so behind the game on Facebook. I didn’t even know that media could pick up pictures and distribute them all over the world.”
In today’s Quick Hits, we’ll take a look at the Google office raid in Seoul, browser privacy settings, Keith Halloran’s Facebook apology, and Delta Airlines’ newest social media endeavor, the “Ticket Window”.
South Korean police raided the Seoul offices of Google to further investigate its “Street View” mapping service. The company is suspected of collecting personal data illegally while taking the Street View photos. Google is also currently being investigated by 37 U.S. states and by the FTC.
New research shows that the browser privacy settings are not as secure as users think. Stanford University and the Carnegie Mellon University researchers say that the private browsing features on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari have multiple weaknesses that could expose your web browsing history to hackers. The data leak allows ‘a local attacker to completely defeat the benefits of private browsing mode and go on to reconstruct a user’s web browsing history.’
New Hampshire House Democratic candidate Keith Halloran has apologized for a post he made on Facebook- a death wish for Sarah Palin. In response to the plane crash that killed former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, Halloran commented “Just wish Sarah and (her daughter’s ex) Levy were on board.” After his comment was condemned by leaders of both parties, Halloran apologized on Facebook, saying he wishes the best for Palin, Levi Johnston, and their families.
Delta Airlines announced its new “Ticket Window” today, which will allow customers to book directly on Facebook. The Ticket Window will be expanded to other sites, included online banner ads that will also allow passengers to book directly.
Recently, hip-hop artist turned humanitarian Wyclef Jean announced his intention to run for the presidency of Haiti. Wyclef, who was born in Haiti and has been active in relief efforts after the country’s disastrous 2009 earthquake, insists that his candidacy is no joke and that his “focus on helping Haiti turn a new corner will only grow stronger” through his political aspirations.
We’re no experts in Haitian politics here at Reputation.com, but we like Wyclef, so we thought we’d offer the presidential candidate some free political advice. The first item on the agenda: freshen up your online presence!
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about pro football players tweeting, Facebook’s pending location features, and how Google is putting German property owners on a tight deadline to avoid Street View cameras.
Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini had to take his mind off football at the team’s summer training camp to focus on Twitter. Mangini was forced to address the team’s social media policies after Browns’ cornerback Brandon McDonald posted a vulgar message directed toward Cincinnati Bengals receiver Terrell Owens. McDonald has since apologized for the profane tweet. The fact that football coaches have to take time from coaching football to act as Twitter moderators says a lot about the influence of social media and how many individuals still don’t recognize the importance that it plays on public perception.
Facebook’s long-awaited location features will launch in the coming weeks. According to Carolina McCarthy at CNET, the new technology is “going to take the form of an application programming interface (API) for third-party companies on the Facebook developer platform, integrating existing ‘check-in’ start-ups more deeply into the massive social-networking service and in turn permitting location-aware data to become a part of existing platform applications.” What effect this will have on Facebook’s spotty reputation on privacy remains to be seen.
A Georgia teen was arrested for criminal defamation after setting up a fake Facebook profile which may have contributed to a teacher’s dismissal. The teen pretended to be another student on Facebook who was the lead witness in an investigation against the teacher. He was released on bond and only faces a misdemeanor charge.
In spite of privacy concerns, Google is forging ahead with plans to introduce Street View in Germany’s 20 biggest cities by the end of the year. Before Google brings in the Street View cars, they are giving property owners a chance to make their buildings unrecognizable. The only problem is that Google is only giving property owners one month to file their petition beginning next week. German privacy officials object to Google’s plans, saying that “objections should be possible at all times” and that the plan “create[s] doubts about Google’s interests in a simple and user-friendly implementation.”
If you want privacy online, would you be willing to pay for it? That’s what Niraj Chokshi of The Atlantic suggests in a recent column. Feeding off of a blog post from famed venture capital investor Fred Wilson, Chokshi explains how developing a paid privacy offset would force users into making an active choice to use free websites, thus justifying the need for advertising. Chokshi argues that, “Even if no one takes advantage of them, the offsets could still be a success as more users understand the nature and value of tracking.”
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about cyberbullying, the risks and rewards of teachers using social networking websites, and how Google’s South Korea office was stormed by police.
A study conducted in July for Carlton and United Breweries, surveyed 627 adults between the ages of 22 and 40 to determine what role social media plays in superficiality. According to the results of the study, men are more image-conscious online than women, with nearly 25% of male respondents claiming that they “actively manage their cyber profiles to project their `best self’ compared to 14% of their female counterparts.”
This article in the Chicago Tribune talks about teachers on social networking websites and whether or not it is appropriate for teachers to interact with their students online. The central issue in the article is that social networking rules vary from school to school. While some teachers think that social networking is perfectly acceptable, others find it to be too dangerous and reject Facebook and Twitter out right. Given previous instances where teachers were fired over content on social networking websites, our advice to teachers would be to avoid students online and to be acutely aware of what you’re sharing online.
A second article in the Chicago Tribune addresses the equally complex issue of cyberbullying. Recently, the state of Illinois passed a law prohibiting cyberbullying via text messages, e-mail, and social networking websites. In the article, Jennifer Nielson, of the Greater Chicago chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, answers questions about cyberbullying and how the new rules will be implemented across the state.
In an op-ed for Business Insider, Nick Saint argues that mainstream media outrage over “Foursquare stalkers” and the dangers of location-based social networking are overblown, and that the only way an individual would be a “stalking victim” is if they actively choose to share their information publicly on Twitter. Saint argues that without Twitter to amplify a user’s Foursquare update, there wouldn’t be a problem at all, and that because Twitter has been around for a while it’s no longer a “cool” topic for discussion.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Police raided Google Inc.’s South Korean offices Tuesday to probe potential violations of the country’s telecommunication-privacy law, in the latest move by authorities around the world to ratchet up scrutiny of the Internet search giant’s privacy practices.” The raid is centered around Google Street View, which has been the subject of international scrutiny since Google admitted to collecting Wi-Fi payload data via Street View cars several months ago.
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