Bruce Schneier at CUNY Crypto Conference: “We’ve made bulk collection too easy”
Like everyone else following the news about the Snowden papers, I’m aware of the basic facts. Bulk collection of phone metadata, and taps on Yahoo …
Category: Privacy
2013: Privacy Makes a Comeback
My last post of the year, more or less, is a short toast to Privacy. I raise my glass to wish Privacy better health in …
Metadata Inferencing Meme Goes Mainstream
Knock me down with a feather. As a techy blogging bystander, I’ve been watching as the non-technical media world figures out the implications of the …
KPass gets off the ground
Last week, I had a chance to chat briefly with Dan Nelson, whom I met at Hatch Match 2013 while he was in mid-pitch for …
We Told You So: FBStalker and Mining Facebook Connections
In late 2012, we interviewed NYU-Poly’s Professor Keith Ross about his research into privacy loopholes in Facebook. Ross showed it was possible to work out …
Running with the Thought Police at Cyber Security Summit 2013
Two weeks ago I attended the Cyber Security Summit, a gathering of the cyber tribe that took place here in NYC. Sure there were a …
Metadata Chronicles: NYT Beginning to Realize the NSA Builds Social Attribute Network
It is interesting and vaguely rewarding in a bloggy kind of way to watch The New York Times start connecting the dots and realizing that …
Out of the Office
TvB is taking a much needed break. We’ll be back mid-September. (Photo: courtesy of Wikimedia)
Paul Revere’s Random Ride: Metadata And Social Attribute Networks
Like everyone else, I read Kieran Healy’s post on Paul Revere, the mostly highly connected person in Boston circa 1770. Healy, a sociologist at Duke, …
UK Joins Other EU Members on Google Privacy Legal Action
Last week, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office or ICO revealed that it had asked Google to revise its privacy policy to conform to their Data …
Plug: Teeny File Server Debuts on Kickstarter
Who needs the cloud when you have a device like the Plug? Made by a US-French company called Cloud Guys, Plug mirrors personal computer files …
Brief Note on Temboo: API Assistant
Temboo is a NYC-based startup that I first heard about at NY Tech Day last year. I knew it had something to do with those …
Right to be Forgotten Hits Speed Bump: Google Not a Data Controller
The European Court of Justice ruled today that Google is not obligated to remove links that point to inaccurate or stale content. The case originally …
California Erasin’: State Law Lamely Addresses Right to be Forgotten
While the EU Parliament may approve Right to Be Forgotten regulations this summer, closer to home, US social media companies have a smaller front in …
More Tales from Startup Alley: phriz.be & occupy.here advocate ultra-local privacy
One of the micro themes in this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt was the emergence of privacy as a central part of an app’s value proposition. Sgrouples …
Tales from Startup Alley: Privacy Reboot from Sgrouples
Some have said that privacy is dead in the era of social media. But privacy has not been completely tossed away. In recent years, the …
Right to be Forgotten on Twitter
The EU’s proposed “Right to be Forgotten” has become a major point of contention for US companies doing business across the Atlantic–more precisely it’s a …
EU vs Facebook: Will Internet Content Have an Expiration Date?
Over on another channel, I’ve been writing about some of the grumblings towards the EU’s proposed changes to their landmark Data Protection Directive. The grumbles …
NYU-Poly Researchers Find Weakness in Facebook’s Protections for Minors
Social media and our too-much-information online culture has brought new life to an old privacy vulnerability. The kind of privacy loophole I’m referring to has …
Kim Dotcom Files: Government Turns Cloud Provider into Object Lesson
After spirited discussions in the TvB offices, we’ve decided to introduce a new topic area on online privacy and data protection rights. In this inaugural …