Entries from August 2011 ↓
August 19th, 2011 | Facebook, Internet Safety, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Groupon’s privacy policies, why one German official has a problem with Facebook, and a political candidate’s Facebook faux-pas.
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In response to Congressional inquiries about the company’s recently privacy policy changes, Groupon has issued a statement clarifying its stance on location tracking. Kashmir Hill at Forbes writes that Groupon “wants to start collecting location information from phones — even when the Groupon app is not on — in order to tell people about deals in their vicinity.” According to Groupon, this can only happen with a customer’s consent, but Congressmen Ed Markey and Joe Barton still warned the company not to violate user privacy.
Claiming a violation of German and European Union data privacy laws, Thilo Weichert, Data Protection Commissioner for Schleswig-Holstein, “ordered state institutions to shut down [Facebook] fan pages…and remove the [Facebook] ‘Like’ button from their websites.” Facebook disputes Weicher’s allegations that the company tracks and stores user data for two years, but did admit that it accesses technical information about the user, such as an IP address. Weichert’s order demonstrates how Germany and the United States treat the subject of privacy.
Facebook collects a wide range of data on its users, but one of the more interesting things Facebook records is which profiles you visit the most. Zack Whittaker at ZDNet explains how this works, writing “Facebook uses a server-side script, loaded when you use the site, called first_degree.php. This acts as a ranking algorithm, likely to be based on those who you interact with, the profiles you visit, who you chat and communicate with and those who you have recently become acquainted with. The higher the negative number, the more likely the person attached to it will display in Facebook’s autocomplete search — at the top of the window.”
A Canadian politician recently apologized for several off-color jokes on his Facebook profile, saying “If I could do it again, I probably wouldn’t have posted it.” The jokes, which were made prior to his decision to run for office, tried to shrug off the Facebook posts saying they represented his “taste in humor,” but acknowledged that they may have offended some. The candidate’s efforts to distance himself from his Facebook profile represent a new reality for politicians seeking election in the digital age.
In an effort to address concerns over security, privacy, and bullying, Facebook has published a free, 20-page guide titled “A Guide to Facebook Security.” PCWorld writes that “the pamphlet is available on the site and was co-written by security experts Linda McCarthy and Keith Watson, and editor and teacher Denise Weldon-Siviy.”
August 18th, 2011 | Facebook, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Parenting, Privacy, Quick Hits, Research | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about new online tracking technology that is nearly impossible to disable, why one mom thinks friending one’s children online is a bad idea, and how more and more people are using privacy controls on social networking websites.
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The Wall Street Journal reports that several major websites “have been tracking people’s online activities using powerful new methods that are almost impossible for computer users to detect.” These so-called “supercookies” are “capable of re-creating users’ profiles after people deleted regular cookies, according to researchers at Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley.” As more people become aware of the privacy ramifications of online tracking, the advertising industry is looking for ways to continue accessing valuable consumer information online. Currently, “supercookies” are legal, but that might change depending on whether Congress takes up anti-tracking legislation.
A Florida teacher, who was once named Teacher of the Year, has been suspended from the classroom after he compared gay marriage to a “cesspool” in a post on his Facebook page. The veteran educator is arguing that his suspension is unmerited because he made the comments on his personal page during his personal time. A school district investigation will determine whether to take additional action against the teacher.
In an interesting article for The Daily Mail, Rachel Halliwell argues that parents shouldn’t friend their children on websites like Facebook, because, in her experience, it’s better to not know all of the things teens talk about online. Halliwell, who says she checked up on her daughter obsessively for a time, writes that “In the end I got so sick of worrying myself stupid about what they were up to that I deleted them all from my Facebook account — my own daughter included.”
Despite her decision to disconnect from her daughter online, Halliwell does acknowledge that social media has made adolescence much different. Quoting the article, “Our kids are the first generation of teens to have grown up with instant communication. They have no recollection of life before it. And however uncomfortable we adults feel with this set-up, there is no way to turn back the clock.”
Earlier in the month, a small faction of the hacker group Anonymous made headlines by declaring plans to take down Facebook on November 5th. Immediately, several representatives from Anonymous distanced the group from the operation, as tech writers questioned how a small group of hackers could take down Facebook in the first place. On Monday, someone managing the @Op_Facebook account tied to the operation posted a message saying “We Can’t Take Facebook Down…Yet” and calling the operation an awareness campaign. In other words, the operation is currently dead, but may return in the future.
According to a survey from Webroot security, people are becoming much more privacy-aware. Quoting TechCrunch, “between 2009 and 2011, Webroot says, the number of US social network users who have never viewed or changed their privacy settings plummeted from 37 percent in 2009 to 8 percent in 2011.” TechCrunch attributes the increase in privacy awareness to widespread publicity around privacy issues.
August 17th, 2011 | Facebook, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits, Twitter | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, Jackie Chan faces a Twitter death hoax, Apple faces thousands of lawsuits, and four tech titans face off against each other for digital dominance.
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Beloved action star Jackie Chan has been declared dead on Twitter…again. According to the Washington Post, “Rumors of [Chan's] demise rekindled Tuesday night after someone made an ‘RIP Jackie Chan’ Facebook page. The page has more than 67,000 followers, and Twitter has been buzzing again.” Chan was the victim of an Internet death hoax in March as well, following in the footsteps of numerous other unfortunate celebrities.
LinkedIn recently found itself in hot water with privacy advocates after the company opted users into social advertising without their explicit consent. The resulting backlash has forced LinkedIn to change its privacy policies. This article from the New York Times Gadgetwise blog discusses the entire LinkedIn incident in detail, along with information on how to opt out of social ads on LinkedIn.
According to PCWorld, “nearly 27,000 South Koreans are suing Apple for privacy violations” following the company’s recent flap over location tracking via its mobile devices. Apple, which briefly was the richest company in the world following stock market fluctuations, can pay any penalties from the lawsuits easily, but there is a bigger issue at stake. As PCWorld explains, “a victory for the plaintiffs could spell bigger trouble for the company in the U.S., where it could embolden more plaintiffs and politicians to go after Apple.” With privacy continuing to be a touchy issue, Apple certainly doesn’t want this issue dredged up again with U.S. regulators.
It’s been said that all human beings can be connected by six degrees of separation, but researchers have never been able to prove this theory. Now, thanks to the incredible growth of social networking technology, it may actually be possible to put the theory to the test. The Washington Post reports that Facebook and Yahoo are starting something called the “Small World Experiment,” which will use Facebook’s extensive network of 750 million members to try and link two random people in six steps.
This article in the Washington Post discusses how four of the world’s largest tech companies – Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple – are competing with each other to rule the “digital age.” Each company is taking its own approach, sometimes working together and sometimes working against each other, to imprint their vision of the future on consumers.
August 16th, 2011 | Careers, Facebook, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about mistakes job seekers make online as well as some of the dumb things people do on Facebook.
Dianne Stafford, the careers columnist for the Kansas City Star, wonders why job seekers don’t spend more time on their online reputations. In a column, Stafford writes, “Job recruiters Google your name. They look for you on Facebook. They check out your LinkedIn profile and read what others say about you. They research Internet user groups and join discussions.” Stafford urges job seekers to “do everything in their power to present a polished, professional image online.”
A UK man is facing 15 months in jail after spending “up to 18 hours a day” trolling Facebook for information that helped him crack into his neighbors’ online bank accounts. According to the Telegraph, the man stole “more than £35,000 over two years” by using the password reset function at a victim’s online bank. The fraudster accessed information to answer the bank’s security question by looking on Facebook and other social media websites.
Following an embarrassing incident in which Google collected Wi-Fi data via its Street View vehicles, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office pushed the company to adopt better privacy safeguards. In the last year, Google has taken steps to meet these recommendations, but the ICO is asking for more. According to an ICO statement,”the ICO has now asked the company to go further to enhance privacy, including ensuring that users are given more information about the privacy aspects of Google products.” Specifically, the ICO recommended Google have a “privacy story” for each of its products, so that people understand how the service impacts their personal information.
AllFacebook.com has an article on the “7 Stupidest Mistakes We Keep Seeing on Facebook.” The article features such “stupid mistakes” as sharing your entire birthdate, ignoring privacy controls, and announcing when you’re going on vacation. It’s an insightful read for those who are not quite so Facebook savvy.
August 15th, 2011 | Facebook, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Parenting, Privacy, Quick Hits | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Facebook crime, two new studies on social media, and the continuing fallout from the Tyler Clementi case.
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Phishing scams, online bullying, and other forms of cybercrime are flourishing on Facebook according to numerous experts. This article from CNET discusses why Facebook crime is on the rise, and what Facebook users can do to prevent themselves from becoming victims of Facebook crime.
The New York Times has a good write-up on the recent faux-privacy scandal involving Facebook. Last week, a message circulated among Facebook users claiming that the company had published all of the phone numbers in a user’s phone publicly. In reality, the phone numbers weren’t published publicly and is only visible to the individual user. The phone numbers appear on Facebook as a result of users installing Facebook’s mobile app.
The BBC reports that “more than a third of teachers have been subject to online abuse, according to a survey conducted by Plymouth University.” The harassment comes mainly from students, but a high percentage (26%) also came from parents of students, demonstrating the myriad ways in which teachers face online abuse.
According to new Gartner survey, one in four 18-29 year-olds claim that they are using social media less than when they signed up, calling the technology “boring.” According to the Telegraph newspaper, “of those using the sites less, common reasons also included the ‘superficiality’ of friendships online, as well as concerns about digital privacy.”
Last year, Tyler Clementi’s suicide launched a huge dialogue on Internet privacy and online bullying. Clementi, who was gay, was secretly recorded by his roommate engaging in sexual activity. The resulting broadcast of the video is one of the things that allegedly drove Clementi to commit suicide. Now, however, as the investigation into Clementi’s suicide goes deeper, Forbes privacy blogger Kashmir Hill wonders if Clementi’s privacy isn’t being violated a second time.
Quoting Hill’s article, “digital trails that were meant to be kept private have been made public… Instead of his sexual encounter with a man being surreptitiously streamed by fellow students, private chats revealing his mother’s rejection of his sexuality and racist statements about his roommate are now being exposed.” Certainly, these revelations are necessary for Dharun Ravi’s defense team, but they highlight a new reality of criminal investigations. As Hill writes, we not live in a world “where everything we do and say and think is captured in a routine way by our daily communications, and archived.”
