When is private information not private? When you are “looking for a good time.” Take this ./ article for example. A graphic artist in Kirkland, Washington, Jason Fortuny thought it would be an interesting experiment to post to craigslist as a woman looking for a male partner. From the waxy.org article, he received : 178 responses, with 145 photos of men in various states of undress. Responses include full e-mail addresses (both personal and business addresses), names, and in some cases IM screen names and telephone numbers. He then posted all the responses—unedited and in their entirety—on Encyclopedia Dramatica. The fallout from this experiment may be deep, the personal destruction total. By sharing their personal details to an anonymous craigslist[…]
Category: rants
Don’t put things online that you don’t want people to know. The fact that Xanga was fined 1 million dollars for disclosing the personal information of children under 13 is a fine well dished out. (Although it’s not really possible to verify age online to begin with). Though, this is besides the point. Children and adults alike need to be educated about what the Internet is. Anything you put online is PUBLIC – and should be treated as such. That is why this retaliation from Facebook users on a new feature surprises me. While a typical profile on MySpace, Friendster, Facebook, and other sites is like an encyclopedia entry, this [new feature] is like an Associated Press newswire feed, giving[…]
Like phishing and pharming, a new term is springing up more and more, especially with its revelation in an HP SEC filing. It’s called pretexting and SecurityFocus has a pretty good description of it here. The methods being used by companies selling phone records were revealed this week in an interview with a security consultant… the records are simply requested from the provider under the pretext that the caller is the owner of the records, hence the term “pretexting”. Noted Silicon Valley venture capitalist Thomas Perkins, an HP board member, resigned from the HP board when pretexting was used to uncover which board member leaked information about HP’s corporate strategy. He then fought with HP and the SEC to bring[…]
Good.. The Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld yesterday what is believed to be the first conviction in the nation under a state anti-spamming law that makes it a felony to send unsolicited mass e-mails. Washington Post Cyber crime is crime period. Maybe the courts are finally beginning to realize this.
The Washington Post is running a story called Unlocking Fingerprints detailing how the Government’s PIV cards might be the catalyst to have fingerprints on the most ubiquitous form of identification in America—the driver’s license. OK, let’s see… that’s 10 years to come up with a plan of how to do it, 5 years to bicker over which companies will be able to implement the new IDs and start issuing them en masse, and at least another 10 years to wait until all existing issued IDs expire. After those 25+ years, we might be able to expect everyone to have a driver’s license with biometrics. Until that time, it will be far simpler to counterfeit older driver’s licenses. Oh, and remember[…]
Via CNN: the NSA eavesdropping program has been ruled unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor. Taylor’s complete 44 page ruling is here. It includes an order to end the domestic wiretapping immediately, which she said violates the rights to free speech and privacy. …this court is constrained to grant to Plaintiffs the Partial Summary Judgment requested, and holds that the TSP violates the APA; the Separation of Powers doctrine; the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution; and the statutory law. Hopefully it will stand up to appeal. Score one for your privacy.