Category archives: privacy

 

 

Calyx Institute to create ISP that keeps customer traffic private, away from prying governmental eyes

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Wouldn’t it be nice if we were free to surf the web free from fear of having our traffic monitored and emails scraped by the NSA? Well, if Nicholas Merrill has his way, we won’t have to rely on anonymous browsers or proxy servers — we’ll have a new ISP built from the ground up to protect customer privacy. A non-profit, the Calyx Institute, will run the ISP that’ll employ end-to-end encryption on web traffic, plus encrypted emails to prevent anyone other than the user, including the ISP itself, from seeing people’s internet activity. Because of this structure, Calyx, quite literally, won’t be able to comply with governmental requests to obtain customer traffic data under the Patriot or Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Acts. The best part is, such online privacy may cost as little as $20 a month, and Merrill has hopes to provide a similarly secure VoIP service at some point as well. Of course, the venture will only be possible if Merrill can raise the $2 million needed to get it going — which is why he’s pitching the idea to venture capitalists in Silicon Valley and the general public through crowd-sourced funding site IndieGogo. Want to help out? Hit the the source below to make a donation. Calyx Institute to create ISP that keeps customer traffic private, away from prying governmental eyes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink CNET | IndieGogo , Calyx Institute | Email this | Comments

 

Facebook revealing the personal data it collects, won't spare your drunk-poking blushes

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Facebook’s massively expanding its Download Your Information service into an all-encompassing archive of the data Mr. Zuckerberg collects about your daily dose of people-stalking. DYL was introduced in 2010 and allowed you to pull down all the photos, posts, messages, friend lists and chat conversations in the archives — but now will also offer stored IP Addresses, previous names you’ve used, friend requests you’ve made, with further categories due in the future. It’ll have to to sate the concerns of privacy organizations worldwide , since it’s rumored to collect 84 different categories of information about you (85 if you count all those Instagram photos it just bought). It’ll be gradually rolled out to all 845 million users in the coming weeks and is available from your general account settings. Facebook revealing the personal data it collects, won’t spare your drunk-poking blushes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink New York Times | Facebook | Email this | Comments

 

Remote smartphone diagnostics: the new Carrier IQ or helpful support tool?

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The importance of privacy has been dwindling for quite some time, and smartphones have become one of the biggest culprits. Allegations against Carrier IQ , location-based tracking , the recent concerns about Path snatching up iOS address book information — all of these are just a few examples of mobile carriers and other wireless companies taking our personal data, selling it to the highest bidder (or using it for their own purposes) and not bothering to let us know or give us a choice. The last few aspects of our life that we choose not to share on Facebook seem to get out into the ether, whether we like it or not. And here’s the scarier part: there may be companies grabbing information off of our phones right now without us knowing about it. Too much of a doomsday scenario? Perhaps, but it’s important to drive home the point that it has become so outrageous over the past year that we can’t help but become nervous anytime we download an app or type in a password. Is our phone secure? How can we really be sure? Can we really trust (insert carrier or manufacturer name here)? This week, the very same situation is resurfacing as Verizon and HTC have made significant moves to install remote diagnostic tools on select devices. It’s all done in the name of customer support, but how can we tell this isn’t just another sneaky way of snagging our personal deets and selling them to a third party without telling us? We wanted to find out, and here’s what we’ve learned so far. Continue reading Remote smartphone diagnostics: the new Carrier IQ or helpful support tool? Remote smartphone diagnostics: the new Carrier IQ or helpful support tool? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | | Email this | Comments

 

Japanese court orders Google to halt Instant search for suggesting one man be fired

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Could Google Instant suggest you out of a job? According to one Japanese man’s claims, that search algorithm is precisely what landed him a pink slip and permanent spot on the unemployment line. The Kyodo News Agency is reporting that a string of unflattering searches performed by the plaintiff’s former employer allegedly linked him to a host of illegal and unflattering behavior, leading to his eventual termination. Baseless claims of a paranoiac? One Tokyo court doesn’t think so, as the search giant’s been issued an injunction that temporarily bars the use of autocomplete in the country. So far, Mountain View’s refused to bow down to the order and maintains its service is consistent with user privacy policies. Our currently jobless John Doe-san would beg to differ and had previously sought the company’s assistance in deleting the offending queries before seeking judicial aide, albeit to no avail. Should be interesting to see how this case plays out, seeing as the infraction is the first of its kind and could potentially alter the legal parameters of internet queries. We’ll keep you posted on further developments as this courtroom drama continues to play out. Japanese court orders Google to halt Instant search for suggesting one man be fired originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink ABC News | Kyodo News Agency | Email this | Comments

 

FTC wants new privacy framework: asks for simple controls, transparent policies

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There’s plenty of people bothered by the dossiers of data companies like Facebook and Google can (and do) compile on their users, particularly in places across the pond . Now, the Federal Trade Commission has come up with a privacy framework to help address consumer concerns and provide companies with best practices to proliferate better privacy policies. This new plan is articulated in the FTC’s recently released privacy report, and seeks to persuade companies to adopt a Privacy by Design ethos. Companies can do this by building in simplified privacy controls throughout product development and making info collection and practices transparent to users. In order to meet these goals, the FTC came up with a five-pronged approach. First up is the widespread implementation of a Do Not Track system — for which the W3C is currently creating an international standard — that has already made its way into Internet Explorer , Firefox , and Chrome to make it easy to opt out of targeted ads. Mobile services are also a priority, as the FTC wants concise, meaningful privacy disclosures to make them easy to digest when on smaller screens. Next, the FTC wants consumers to be able to easily find what personal info is held by data brokers, and is pushing those data brokers to create a centralized website to that end. ISPs, social networks, operating systems, and other so-called “large platform providers” are also under scrutiny for their ability to comprehensively track consumers, and the FTC will have a public workshop later this year to “further explore” issues related to that capability. Lastly, the Commission is working with the Department of Commerce to create business sector-specific codes of conduct, and pledges to continue to take action against companies that don’t abide by their own policies. In order to assuage fears that its framework puts too big of a financial burden on small businesses, the FTC made clear that it doesn’t apply to companies that collect data from less than 5,000 customers and don’t share that data with third parties. Sounds like a good plan, fellas, but we won’t get too excited until we see the big boys actually implementing it. FTC wants new privacy framework: asks for simple controls, transparent policies originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink Techmeme | FTC (PDF) | Email this | Comments

 

Major ISPs agree to FCC's code of conduct on botnets, DNS attacks

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The FCC’s campaign to secure the internet gained new momentum last week, when a group of major ISPs signed on to a new code of conduct aimed at mitigating cybercrime. Adopted by the FCC’s Communications, Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), the new code targets three main security threats: botnets, DNS attacks and internet route hijacking. The Anti-Bot Code of Conduct invites ISPs to adopt sharper detection methods, and to notify and assist consumers whenever their computers are infected. The DNS code, meanwhile, offers a list of best practices by which ISPs can tighten security. Though it doesn’t call for a full adoption of DNSSEC technology, the guidelines do represent a “first step” toward implementation, allowing web users to verify the authenticity of their online destinations. As for internet route attacks, the CSRIC calls for a similarly collective approach, asking ISPs to collaborate on new technologies within an industry-wide framework. In a statement, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said that these practices “identify smart, practical, voluntary solutions that will materially improve the cyber security of commercial networks and bolster the broader endeavors of our federal partners.” The industry apparently agrees, as heavyweights like AT&T, CenturyLink, Comcast, Cox, Sprint, Time Warner Cable, T-Mobile and Verizon have already signed on. For the FCC’s full statement, check out the source link below. Major ISPs agree to FCC’s code of conduct on botnets, DNS attacks originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink ThreatPost | FCC (PDF) | Email this | Comments

 

Congressmen ask devs of 34 iOS apps about user privacy

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In the wake of the Path address book fiasco , Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) have followed up their initial query to Apple about privacy issues by contacting the people and companies behind 34 iOS apps. The list includes Tim Cook (again), concerning Apple’s own Find My Friends , Mark Zuckerberg and Path’s CEO Dave Morin, among others. The letters themselves are open for viewing on the Committee on Energy and Commerce’s website, and include questions about exactly how many times the apps have been downloaded, what information they transmit back from user’s devices and what happens to that data. The devs have until April 12th to respond, and while we’re not sure what will happen after that, we’re pretty sure this ends with someone’s Hall of Fame consideration in doubt despite seven Cy Youngs and more than 4,000 strikeouts. Congressmen ask devs of 34 iOS apps about user privacy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink Ars Technica | Committee on Energy and Commerce | Email this | Comments

 

Path vows contact data 'hashing' in next update, chases privacy certification

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Path is still trying to pave over those privacy cracks, promising that its next update will “hash” the contact data it previously used to suck up without prior warning . Last month, the app was caught with its digital fingers inside users’ address books and while the subsequent (and understandably swift) update allowed users to opt out, the Path devs are still looking to gain privacy certification with TRUSTe. They told The Verge that the next version will still allow contact matching without plucking the precise details at the same time, using a hashing technique that won’t identify the data delivered to the social network app. The latest update adds compatibility with Nike+ GPS, plus improvements to the embedded camera and a new music recognition function. It’s available now for the mobile OS of your choice at the sources below. Path vows contact data ‘hashing’ in next update, chases privacy certification originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink The Verge | Path (Google Play) , (iTunes) | Email this | Comments

 

What’s new for designers, March 2012

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The February edition of what’s new for web designers and developers includes new web apps, frameworks, jQuery plugins, icons, productivity tools, responsive design resources, and some really great new fonts. Many of the resources below are free or very low cost, and are sure to be useful to a lot of designers and developers out there. As always, if we’ve missed something you think should have been included, please let us know in the comments. And if you have an app or other resource you’d like to see included next month, tweet it to @cameron_chapman for consideration. Osmosis Osmosis is a simple app for managing your client questionnaires in a way that makes it easier to interact with your clients and gather the information you need from them. It’s made to fit into your workflow while still being easy to use for your clients. MockVault MockVault is a web app for getting approval from clients for your designs. It guides them through the design you’ve created, making it easier for them to review and approve. Trajectory Trajectory is a new app for managing software projects. It makes it easy to write user stories, track bugs and to-dos, while also facilitating discussion. The Responsinator The Responsinator lets you test any live website for responsiveness on a variety of mobile devices, including tablets and e-readers. All you have to do is enter a URL. Font Awesome Font Awesome is an icon font designed specifically for use with Twitter Bootstrap. It includes over 150 icons, is free for commercial use, offers infinite scalability, and is screen reader compatible. TOC Need a table of contents for your website? TOC is a jQuery plugin that does just that. It’s completely customizable, automatically highlights the current section, and is extremely lightweight. Simple Green SimpleGreen is an icon pack for sustainable businesses. The free version includes 48 environment and social icons, while the paid version includes 200 icons. Codiqa Codiqa is a tool for rapidly creating mobile app prototypes. It’s drag-and-drop jQuery interface makes it quick and easy to build what you need, and it also includes tools for sharing those prototypes. Iubenda Iubenda lets you quickly and easily generate a privacy policy for your website. Just add services, insert the owner, embed the policy, and show the result. Curtain.js Curtain.js is a plugin for creating a web page with multiple fixed panels that unroll with a curtain-rising effect. Navigation is done via keyboard, scrollbar, or your mousewheel. Wonderflux Wonderflux is a new free WordPress theme framework that lets you rapidly create WP themes. It’s licensed under the GPLv2, so you can use it on unlimited client, personal, and commercial sites. Centratissimo Centratissimo is an all-centered, auto-resizable layout. It includes smooth scrolling between pages and dynamic resizing, along with some other neat features, all done with jQuery. Turn.js Turn.js is a jQuery plugin for creating page-turning transitions with HTML5. It uses hardware acceleration, works on tablets and smartphones, is lightweight (only 6K), and is easy to manipulate. jQuery Org Chart jQuery Org Chart is a plugin that lets you render tree-like structures with nested elements. Data is entered in a nested unordered list, making it incredibly easy to use. bgStretcher II bgStretcher is a jQuery plugin for adding a full-page background image that proportionally resizes to fill the entire window area. It’s unobtrusive and simple to setup, and works with all modern browsers. Hogan.js Hogan.js is a JavaScript templating engine developed by Twitter. It’s only 2.5K, and was developed against the mustache test suite (so all the specs for that hold true for Hogan.js). Entypo Entypo is a set of more than a hundred pictograms, available as an OpenType font, a web font, and vector EPS. It’s Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike licensed, so you can use it on personal and commercial projects. Prefix Free Prefix Free processes your code to add the current browser’s prefix to any CSS code, so you can use only un-prefixed CSS properties in your code. It works in IE9+, Opera 10+, Firefox 3.5+, Safari 4+, and Chrome. Zoomooz Zoomooz is a jQuery plugin for making any element on your website zoomable. It’s supported by all modern browsers and has detailed settings options. Underscore.js Underscore.js is a utility-belt library for JavaScript that gives you a lot of the functional support you’d expect from Ruby or Prototype.js without extending any of the built-in JavaScript objects. It provides over sixty functions that support the usual functional suspects, including map, select, invoke, as well as more specialized ones. Socialico Socialico is a set of 74 social media icons, combined with a single weight font. Lowercase letters show the icons in a circle, while the capital letters of the same alphabet show the icons without the circle. Warm Framework The Warp Framework provides a set of tools for developing cross-platform themes. It currently supports Joomla and WordPress, and can be extended to work with other systems. It makes it possible to create themes that are easily portable between supported systems while retaining all features. Glisse.js Glisse.js is a responsive and customizable jQuery photo viewer. Transitions between images are entirely assumed by CSS3. Collusion Collusion is a Firefox add-on that lets you see all the third parties that are tracking your movements online. In real time, it shows how that data creates a spiderweb of interaction. Cyfe Cyfe is an all-in-one business dashboard that lets you see an overview of your entire business in real time. View data from Google Analytics, Salesforce, AdSense, MailChimp, Amazon, Facebook, WordPress, Zendesk, Twitter, and more from a single location! jQuery HTML5 Placeholder Plugin This jQuery HTML5 Placeholder Plugin adds cross-browser support for the HTML5 placeholder attribute functionality via jQuery. It has a couple of customization options and usage is very straightforward. FanMix FanMix is a “social inbox” that lets you manage all of your conversations online from a single inbox, just like email. Probably the most useful feature is the ability to search across your entire social history. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Lightroom 4 was just released and includes some great new features. It includes new adjustment controls to maximize dynamic range from cameras, as well as new and improved auto adjustments. The upgrade is $79, while the full version is $149. Geared (name your price) Geared is a distressed slab serif typeface with a style reminiscent of athletic t-shirts. It comes with four unique weights: thin, regular, bold, and extrabold. Abraham Lincoln (name your price) Abraham Lincoln has perhaps the best tagline of any typeface: “Tall. Skinny. Honest.” It was inspired by the proportions of its namesake and the advertisements and playbills of the 1800s. Sedgwick Co (free) Sedgwick Co is an uppercase slab serif typeface inspired by the city of Wichita, KS. It’s both classic and modern, and reminscent of western-style fonts. Web Serveroff (free) Web Serveroff is a modern, condensed sans serif typeface. It comes in both regular and italic styles. Kommisar ($16.25) Kommisar is loosely based on the Trajan capital in Rome and influenced by Father Edward Catich, an American sign painter and lettering artist. It’s contemporary, but with a decidedly antiquarian look. Yeti ($5) Yeti is a display typeface, hand-drawn with a hint of calligraphy. It supports multiple languages and even comes with some graphics and web icons. Intro (free) Intro is a free geometric font from FontFabric. The letterforms are mostly created based on simple geometric shapes — triangles, circles, and squares. Written exclusively for WDD by Cameron Chapman . Know of a new app or resource that should have been included but wasn’t? Let us know in the comments! How to learn iOS Programming – 55% Off! Source

 

Facebook loses friends in Germany over privacy breaches

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Before you’ve even sipped your morning brew, a regional German court has delivered yet another stern judgement affecting a multinational organization. This time it’s Facebook back in the dock over the Friend Finder feature, which uploads a user’s contact list to Zuckerberg’s bunker without proper warning. Another offense involves the ownership of data — any original photo or music track uploaded to Facebook supposedly belongs to the company and can be used however it likes, which has now been deemed to breach data protection laws. Someone ought to add this to the Harvard Student Handbook . Facebook loses friends in Germany over privacy breaches originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink MacWorld | VZBV (German) , Berlin.de (German) | Email this | Comments