Category: Privacy & Security

Security threats to smart devices are not just from hacking, but also from a lack of control over data access. The separation of security from convenience makes it difficult for the average user to determine how secure a smart device is.

Katina Michael of the Australian Privacy Foundation speaks with Gemma Veness of ABC24hour (June 2, 2019), about the implications of…  Read More

The level of state surveillance practiced in the supposedly illiberal regimes prior to fall of the Berlin Wall is now routinely accepted, from the widespread use of CCTV to online tracking and data recording. Therefore, instead of labeling a display of genuine concern as “paranoia,” perhaps a lack of genuine concerns should instead be stigmatized by a “disease” or a “disorder”: complacentosis, complyaphilia, complicivitis, ignorrhea.

Portal says that privacy is “built into every layer.” Despite the company’s reassurances about privacy, users are backing away.

As social media serves to transform free speech the world over, a pervasive infiltration of the information highway is underway by individuals and entities using bots and human agencies to invade our privacy and channel extremist, hateful speech in propaganda-like campaigns bent on undermining democratic institutions.

How does your culture view the potential for AI?

National security issues arise when IoT reporting reveals information about troop movements and locations.

The accumulation of data points for every person on earth continues at an amazing rate, and from an amazing diversity…  Read More

Zuckerberg’s acknowledgement of the need to address issues related to election influence, “fake news,” and social media addiction is a significant step.

As technological advances disrupt existing markets and value networks, change can outpace our ability to adapt.

Cybersecurity expert Yan Shoshitaishvili joins Heather Ross to talk about the cybersecurity and social implications of the FCC’s December 2017…  Read More

Australian Aboriginal sovereignty is no longer just about Aboriginal communities retaining rights to their own land. The most brutal types of dispossession are the latest forms of data retention, decreased privacy, and unwarranted use of this personal data as a result of activities being collected, analyzed, and intelligently manipulated by geographically remote entities, all thanks to the Internet.

I’m still looking for a Word file containing the 1995 family history I published. When I find this, it will…  Read More

By web evolution I’m not talking Internet 4.0, I’m talking Darwinian survival. In the Darwinian model, evolution requires three things:…  Read More

Where did the privacy slippery slope begin? Or perhaps asking the question with more focus, when did we start trading…  Read More

We may be passing a tipping point in the area of individualized marketing/advertising. This has surfaced as the U.S. Federal…  Read More

Using biometric technology to identify and monitor people raises human rights concerns. In particular, biometrics are often associated with intrusions into privacy.

All web sites such as this, that permit feedback, comments, etc., get some amount of “SPAM” (with apologies to Hormel)…  Read More

During the last century a variety of surveillance technologies have arrived, have been deployed, and have had impacts on society,…  Read More

This piece briefly outlines the legal implications of surveillance, sousveillance, and “whistle-blowing” in a German human rights context. For the…  Read More