March 3rd, 2021
In the effort to protect our online transactions, have we ceded too much power to too few? Is Sift, whose algorithms protect corporate behemoths from McDonald’s to Twitter, merely a free-market version of China’s intrusive Sesame Score? What is the cost of safety?
Online shopping may be pervasive, but it isn’t without risks. Credit card fraud, for example, is on the rise each year, eclipsing $30 billion annually, with the majority of the… Continue reading >
January 26th, 2021
COPPA—the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act—was supposed to help guard our kids’ privacy on the internet. More than two decades after its passage, the results are mixed. Yes, COPPA protects some kids, but it is too narrow in scope and needs to be updated.
Congress enacted the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in 1998 to give parents control over what kinds of information companies can gather about their kids and improve… Continue reading >
December 15th, 2020
If you’re going to use Instagram, be smart about it and take control. Setting your account to “Private” restricts who can see your posts. Dig a little deeper into the app’s “settings” to limit the amount of personal information the harvests from your posts and control, somewhat, the ads you see. You’ll end up with a safer, more private account that sheds a bit less data from Instagram, Facebook and their advertisers to collect.
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December 2nd, 2020
Facebook is following you more closely than you thought. A little-known tool called Centra allows the company to track your online behavior well beyond the confines of its platform.
Your activity on Facebook, including what articles you read and videos you share with friends and family is of great interest to large organizations, from advertisers to political campaigns. That much is, by now, common knowledge. But recent testimony on Capitol Hill indicates Facebook’s… Continue reading >
November 5th, 2020
Apps are listening, watching and recording you. Don’t let them. Block their access to your phone’s camera and microphone. Most apps — regardless of their intended function — collect personal data and use it for their own benefit. One of the ways that apps get crafty about collecting that data is by accessing your phone’s camera or microphone. Deny that access, and you’ll be safer.
You would be surprised to know that most apps… Continue reading >
November 18th, 2020
Covid exposure apps may steer you from danger, but the Bluetooth technology they use can chip away at your privacy. Here’s how the apps work, and what you should be thinking about if you use one.
Most Covid exposure apps rely on Bluetooth technology, a system that enables two devices near one another to exchange information wirelessly. Using Bluetooth, exposure apps can tell whether anyone you encounter while running errands tests positive for Covid.
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October 29th, 2020
Apps should earn their place on your phone. If there are unused apps on your phone—apps you haven’t opened in the last month—delete them. You’ll boost your privacy, bolster your security, and de-clutter your phone in one move. Even when apps are “off,” they are still soaking up information about you, feeding the tracking industry at no benefit to you. Fight off the zombies. Delete unused apps.
The Threat of Zombie Apps
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October 16th, 2020
You don’t need to be a privacy fanatic to see the problems with letting a camera-equipped drone fly around your house, feeding video to your phone (and the cloud) as it buzzes from room to room. Amazon is betting you won’t care. You should. It’s a privacy disaster.
In case you haven’t heard, earlier this fall Amazon introduced the Ring Always Home Cam, a small drone that acts as an all-seeing eye as… Continue reading >
August 27th, 2020
Every minute of every day, predictive analytics are changing our lives. Your social media feed is calibrated to present posts that you’re most likely to care about. Online ads appear because an algorithm has decided you’ll want to see them. Every song you listen to informs your streaming service about which song it should choose to play next. It’s efficient and effective. It’s also dangerously manipulative.
Why Predictive Analytics Matter
In… Continue reading >