Harvard snoops through professors' email, teaches new lessons in privacy | Fox News

Harvard snoops through professors' email, teaches new lessons in privacy | Fox News:

"Even some of the smartest people can be really dumb about technology. To wit, the recent hubbub at Harvard University over the scandalous, surreptitious searching of academia's finest's e-mails. ..."

As a computer professional for nearly 25 years, I have consistently cautioned users that people like me can gain access to anything on servers we administer. I also tell them that I have better things to do than to snoop around.  People might want to read the Acceptable Use Policy that pertains to their work email.  You might be surprised at what permissions you have given to your IT department.  Even in the Ivory Tower of academic institutions there can be scant regard for rights most of us prefer to take for granted.

The bottom line is that there is NO expectation that what you write in a corporate email account is going to remain private forever. But it should take a court order, FOIA request, or some other sort of due process to extract that information, and not just an ad hoc fishing expedition as it seems to be in this article.


'via Blog this'

FBI: We need wiretap-ready Web sites - now | Security & Privacy - CNET News

FBI: We need wiretap-ready Web sites - now | Security & Privacy - CNET News

"The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance. ..."

This is troubling.  Will more intrusion into our privacy make us safer?  Will this backdoor be used for fishing expeditions, or will it be subject only to a court order?

How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did - Forbes

How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did - Forbes

"Every time you go shopping, you share intimate details about your consumption patterns with retailers. And many of those retailers are studying those details to figure out what you like, what you need, and which coupons are most likely to make you happy. Target, for example, has figured out how to data-mine its way into your womb, to figure out whether you have a baby on the way long before you need to start buying diapers. ..."

This is not new.  I have been aware of this potential for about 20 years -- when debit cards were starting to take off and scanning technology was being adopted by many of the "big box" stores.

There had been talk in various computer security groups regarding the scanning technology and the ability to tie items purchased to a particular debit card or credit card.  The piece that was lacking 20 years ago was the ability to mine the large amounts of data that potentially could be collected.  Apparently that is no longer an issue.

An analysis of a family's buying habits can now tell you the reproductive status of  members of the family, their overall health, what they like to eat, where they like to go for entertainment, and many more aspects of their lives.  One could even make an educated guess as to political stands by noting, for example, a change in buying habits that correlates to a particular party's call for a boycott or donations to various causes.

I never have been all that paranoid when it comes to privacy online.  My life tends to be a open book, and pretty boring at that.  But this effort by Target crosses a line.  Yes, I know that Google gmail can put up targeted ads based on keywords in email, and Facebook can use your profile to do pretty much the same thing.  But only I see those ads.  And I refuse as a matter of principle to click through on any of that advertizing.  In this case, a young girl's sexual behavior became known through data mining to Target, which then sent "appropriate" coupons to the the girl's address. And all this significantly before the girl's pregnancy would be been obvious.

Whatever one thinks about sexual activity among young teenagers, this situation just does not pass the "smell test".  Target needs to rethink their methods.

Shift Happens

As in "paradigm shift"...

Here is a YouTube presentation that puts a lot of things related to the information explosion into perspective:

China’s Internet Population Growing At A Fast Pace Despite Restrictions

China’s Internet Population Growing At A Fast Pace Despite Restrictions:

"China’s Internet population is visibly growing every month, and despite all restrictions imposed by the government, it became the world’s largest Internet population, counting 253 million users, according to the latest government report.

By the end of June, the proportion of online users was of 19.1 percent in China, which still accounts for less than a quarter of the country’s population. The percentage is small compared to that of the United States, where almost three quarters of the population uses Internet, but the Chinese online population seems to be growing every month.

The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) informed that while the U.S. Internet population reached 223.1 million users in June, the Chinese population added over 40 million users from the beginning of the year. Overall, China’s online population had a 56 percent increase compared to the same period last year. ..."

With a penetration of 19.1%, China looks like it will dominate the Internet for the foreseeable future. To be sure, the freedoms that internet users enjoy in the rest of the world are not much in evidence, but hopefully that will change.

One thing is evident, and that is that China and the Far East will be a significant player in the development and deployment of new internet technologies. Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) has been under development since the mid 1990s when it became obvious that the number of IPv4 addresses would eventually be insufficient for all the devices that require internet addresses.

Ironically, latecomers to the internet had the opportunity to create an infrastructure that supports IPv6, thus they are far ahead of the US and Europe in that regard.

IPv6 is the "official protocol" of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The IPv6 web site is http://ipv6.beijing2008.cn/ and from where I sit, one laptop can reach it because it is attached to an IPv6 network. Another, which is operating only on an IPv4 network cannot access that website, but http://beijing2008.cn/ will get you there on IPv4.