The internet in China has always had its share of blacklisted sites, blocking out undesirable sources of information from the average citizen. The internet is growing at such a fast pace, with new sites added every day, that blacklists are becoming more and more difficult to manage. Now the way forward seems to be to whitelist the entire web.
Month: January 2010
The dark side of anonymity
In the ‘deep web’, Freenet software allows users complete anonymity as they share viruses, criminal contacts and child pornography. Read about the dark side of the Internet and the use of anonymity at the guardian.co.uk.
What about USA’s Census 2010?
As an European citizenship first and as a individual second, I couldn’t help to be surprised when on Saturday night, as many other nights, I went to bed with last’s week issue of The Economist . I was reading this article “A count that counts” about USA’s census for this year and I reacted on how clearly they speak about the fact that companies will use census results for marketing purposes.
Half way through the article I had to ask myself: What was the initial purpose of the census?? Oh yes to count folks to distribute seats in the Congress, I answered myself. But seriously, I had to think hard because I was so very astonished to read things like this (directly quoted from the article):
-“But the census results also constitute the country’s biggest and most complete market-research survey, and are therefore invaluable to business.”
-“The census this year will ask households to say how many people live there, and to report their race, sex, age, and whether they own or rent. The data on population will help firms decide where to open stores and distribution centres. The other questions provide a profile of consumers in each area, and so help managers pick what products to stock in shops, among other things. “We use census data every day to make business decisions,” says Joan Naymark, director of research and planning at Target, a big retailer. “The 2010 census is incredibly important to us.” The results of the 2000 census prompted Target to offer more hair products for African-Americans and children’s books in Spanish, for example, in its stores in Washington, DC.”
-“The recession has made them reluctant to expand without good market data, ]…[, yet it has also caused them to cut back on research, making the free census data all the more vital.”
And last sentence:
-“No wonder, then, that the Census Bureau has around 47,000 active corporate “partners” helping promote the census to their customers and employees—more than double the number in 2000. Their efforts come on top of the bureau’s own marketing campaign, which is likely to cost over $300m, and the enthusiastic support of local authorities, which are keen to promote participation and thus win more federal funding in future.”
Obviusly without a data privacy act as enforced as we have in Europe it is difficult to protect us from big corporations firstly as citizenships and secondly as individuals.
National Crime Database Raises Privacy Concerns
The (quiet) introduction of a National Police Reference System in Australia has raised concerns on the impact on privacy. The database (run by CRIMTRAC has millions of records – including DNA and fingerprints) and is able to be accessed by all Australian law enforcement officers. There are up to 80,000 accesses to the data per day.
For more detail, please see http://www.smh.com.au/national/privacy-fears-growing-as-police-tighten-national-grip-20100117-mecr.html.
security vs privacy
Here is an interesting (and a little controversial) article.
Briefly and informally, data mining refers to the process of extracting information from data. Data that on its own, may not make sense but through combination, inference and deduction techniques, produce patterns of useful and valuable information. These techniques have been used in the retail and banking industries to predict consumer trends and fraudulent activities. They can also be used to identify threats such as terrorists and pedophiles. Of course, there is also the possibility of error and wrongly labeling an innocent person as a threat.
It is arguable that the larger the volume of data and the higher its precision, the more accurate the results of the data mining techniques. However, data still needs to be provided in the very first place and from a researcher’s point of view, it has always been difficult to obtain data due to privacy concerns from data owners. (Who really owns the data is yet another issue.)
So how much of your privacy are you willing sacrifice to protect and ensure the safety and security of yourself and the ones around you?
A new surveyed generation?
A portable GPS device that can be inserted into a backpack and used to monitor a child’s whereabouts is being tested in Canada, Wired reports. In being a new parent to a beautiful daughter myself in 2009, I understand why tracking your childrens’ movements is so compelling for parents.
However imagine how you felt the first time you went out by yourself as a child. The first time you were allowed to go to the local store and buy your favourite comic… imagine if you knew that your parents were always watching you. How would that have changed you as a person, the independence, the sense of adventure that you can only get when you do something yourself without thinking that you are always being watched. So the question is ‘what are you depriving your children of when you continuously monitor their movements’?
Facebook used to screen NFL draft
Potential draftees (and employees) are being screened by Face Book ‘ghosts’ to gain access to personal information
It is also used by recruitment agencies, insurance companies even law enforcement.
For more information see http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/how-social-networking-created-a-legal-and-ethical-minefield-20100115-mcgu.html
China censoring text messages
China has started scanning text messages for inappropriate content representing the latest move in the country’s increasing censorship. Read more at the telegraph.co.uk.
More on the Chinese Google saga…
Users on Google.cn’s image search can now see the iconic picture of Tank Man, among other images from the massacre in the Beijing square in 1989 – just as users on Google’s other country portals, such as Google.co.uk, can. Read more at MailOnline.
Google briefs Clinton on Chinese cyber attack
Things are getting interesting following Google’s statement to stop censorship on Google search results in China ….
Clinton has made a brief statement “We have been briefed by Google on these allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese government for an explanation. The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy. I will be giving an address next week on the centrality of Internet freedom in the 21st century, and we will have further comment on this matter as the facts become clear.”
Google Enterprise president Dave Girouard stresses that the attack was “not an assault on cloud computing” and “we believe our customer cloud-based data remains secure.” It is unusual for corporations to disclose such attackzs precisely because of the uncertainty they might fuel among customers, but Google says it is opening up “because we are committed to transparency, accountability, and maintaining your trust.”