Google Glass Privacy: I Am Recording You
Eight members of Congress officially demanded Google CEO Larry Page to address a range of privacy concerns about Google Glass.
Here is the content of the letter sent by the congress members:
We are curious whether this new technology could infringe on the privacy of the average American. Because Google Glass has not yet been released and we are uncertain of Google’s plans to incorporate privacy protections into the device, there are still a number of unanswered questions.
The team behind Google Glass defended it against privacy worries in a Google I/O by saying if you are recording from the glass you have to stare at the object. Charles Mendis, an engineer on the Glass team said “If you walk into a restroom and someone’s just looking at you — I don’t know about you but I’m getting the hell out of there.”
Google Updated New Privacy Policy On March 1
Google has removed more than 70 privacy documents and reducing it to just one. The company is doing this to improve the user experience across most Google products.
From Google blog:
The main change is for users with Google Accounts. Our new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you’re signed in, we may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services. In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.
Kids Privacy Are Not Protected By Social Networks
Common Sense Media poll indicates that 92% of parents believe their kids are sharing too much information about themselves online. And 85% said they’re more concerned about online privacy than they were five years ago. 75% of parents also believe social networks aren’t doing a good job of protecting the privacy of kids.
Source: Common Sense Poll (PDF)
Mark Zuckerberg Finally Admitted Mocking Users
Finally we have Mark Zuckerberg admitting that he called Facebook users “Dumb Fucks”. Mark has admitted in a New Yorker profile article and he also mocked early Facebook users for trusting him with their personal information.
Previously we have reported that Business Insider has found an IM message between CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his friend that shows some worrying signs what is going on in Facebook.
From Business Insiders:
Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask.
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How’d you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don’t know why.
Zuck: They “trust me”
Zuck: Dumb fucks.
Facebook has now replied about this IM message. Read more.
Facebook Answers Privacy Advocates With Open Letter
Facebook released a point by point rebuttal to an open letter about privacy from consumer watchdog groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Check out the full open letter here.
Facebook Simplifies Privacy Settings After Public Backlash
Facebook responded to outcry from users, privacy groups and lawmakers by simplifying privacy settings by reducing the amount of user information that is publicly available.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, Now we’ve built and have the privacy model that’s going to help us scale the service to millions and millions of more people.
There are 3 main changes according to the Facebook blog:
- One simple control with the new privacy settings page.
- Remain very private by blocking people from seeing your Facebook page and your friends’ pages.
- Better control over third-party applications and you can now completely remove yourselves from these applications.
Facebook Caught Sharing User Data With Advertisers
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Facebook, MySpace, Digg and other social networking websites have been sharing private user data with advertisers without users’ knowledge or consent.
The users data shared are user IDs and usernames that are tied to the user profiles. For example, if you have not lock down your personal info on Facebook, advertisers can find out your real name, age, hometown, sexual orientation and occupation.
Since the investigation by WSJ, MySpace and Facebook have stopped sharing these info with advertisers.
Google Admits Collecting Private Wi-Fi Data
Google has admitted that the company has been collecting private Wi-Fi data (publicly broadcast SSID information and MAC address) while they are getting info for street view. The search company is now saying they have been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open networks. How can this be a mistake when it is done for 3 years?
From Google blog: ….it was a mistake. In 2006 an engineer working on an experimental WiFi project wrote a piece of code that sampled all categories of publicly broadcast WiFi data. A year later, when our mobile team started a project to collect basic WiFi network data like SSID information and MAC addresses using Google’s Street View cars, they included that code in their software—although the project leaders did not want, and had no intention of using, payload data.
Facebook Mark Zuckerberg Called Facebook Users Dumb Fucks
The top social networking website Facebook has been getting lots of heat due to privacy concerns from the media and users. Now Business Insider has found an IM message between CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his friend that shows some worrying signs what is going on in Facebook.
From Business Insiders:
Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask.
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How’d you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don’t know why.
Zuck: They “trust me”
Zuck: Dumb fucks.
Facebook has now replied about this IM message. Read more.
Facebook CEO Does Not Care About Your Privacy
Spotted this piece of news from Wired. Apparently Facebook Mark Zuckerberg does not care about your privacy. Nick Bilton from the NYT has tweeted with a Facebook employee: “Off record chat w/ Facebook employee. Me: How does Zuck feel about privacy? Response: [laughter] He doesn’t believe in it.”
Facebook has recently added a new feature where your profile could be shared with Microsoft, Yelp and Pandora. Four US senators have ask Facebook to make privacy fixes to the new features by allowing users to opt out of this.
