Mitch is not really worried about losing privacy – He claims It’s just the front of his house, and after all visible to anyone who drives by – and for Mitch everything there are visible from public street…

At that point I’m more worried than Mitch are. This is just the beginning, and I fear about the future with new photos or online photos updates 24/7/365. Sick people could follow you on the Internet all the time, and watch where to meet you. And what about the daily walks with unruly morning hair? lol

Mitch: “I expect it will eventually be 24×7 cameras everywhere, accessible from the Internet. As long as they’re not in private places — like a home — or in bathrooms, I don’t have a problem with that.

This was the same with caller ID. It was a huge deal when it came out in the early- mid-90s — the idea that someone will know who you are and know your phone number when you call them!
If something is visible from a public street, why shouldn’t you publish a photo on the Internet?

We also had this controversy about caller ID and, before that, home answering machines?
Now we have Caller ID blocking. Some people block their caller ID. Other people refuse to take calls from people who block Caller ID. Likewise, in the 80s, when answering machines became common, some people started using them to screen calls. Many people considered that rude — other people said, look, doors have peepholes in them don’t they? This is the same thing. A lot of the privacy we now take for granted is historically recent”

Wow, I have been hearing a lot about the phenomenon called Second Life!!!

photo credit: Jenni Eales

So this article is one that you should read to get a better perspective on what is really going on and how much this new technology is really affecting our lives and culture today and will surely affect it tremendously in the future… read more Google – Do you mind being watched? (Interview from Second Life with Mitch Wagner)

photo credit: Jenni Eales

Is this really where we want our kids hanging out?

My thoughts and opinions are well known when it comes to children using these kinds of services, when adults are allowed to roam free in these virtual worlds… none of our children are safe!!! and for that matter adults as well are not really safe from the luring eyes of predators and pedophiles on these kinds of systems, that have no real control of what is really happening behind the scenes… including losing your privacy!

If you want to join a great community that is promoting great qualities and responsibility then you should come and join the RCC community…

As always be safe online,

Bill

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Are you worried about losing your privacy?

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The complaint, filed Friday by law students interning at the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, alleges 21 other violations under Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

photo credit: luistxo eta marije

“Much of the information shared on Facebook could be sensitive, including marital status, age, hobbies and photographs. Given the advent of cyberstalking and cyberharassment, the sharing of this information without express consent is especially problematic. Cyber stalkers could potentially target by age, hobbies or preferences,” states the complaint.

If you want to learn how to be a Responsible CyberCitizen the go here:

Other alleged violations include failing to destroy the personal information of users who shutdown their Facebook accounts, failing to safeguard it from unauthorized access, failing to provide a valid opt-out consent to share personal information, and limiting its collection necessary for its stated purposes. Read More….

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Being tracked down by long-lost foes, is only one risk you take when you join the site Facebook.

The Active Card Control technology is an extension of it’s commercial card product suite. Using the technology, the client can reset the available funds on each card as frequently as necessary through a Web-based tool. When initially issued, cards will have $0 in available funds until the client is ready to pay the supplier. At that time, the client submits a purchase request through the Bank of America Works application, which uses the Active Card Control technology to fund individual cards with the exact amount of the invoices to be paid. When those purchases are billed to the card, the available funds go to zero.

The bank says that benefits of Active Card Control for the client include improved administrative efficiency and lower costs from not having to raise and lower credit limits or change single transaction limits; increased control over purchasing due to a mandatory approval process; reduced paperwork; and ease of implementation as purchase requests can be used with any card program that uses the Works platform.

This effectively makes fraud among corporations a little easier to manage and possibly reduce the amount of fraud cases. This is another step in the right direction for all consumers.

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Bank of America has been granted a patent for its Active Card Control solution…

Keyloggers can be either software or hardware based. Software-based keyloggers are easy to distribute and infect, but at the same time are more easily detectable. Hardware-based keyloggers are more complex and harder to detect. For all that you know, your keyboard could have a keylogger chip attached and anything being typed is recorded into a flash memory sitting inside your keyboard. Keyloggers have become one of the most powerful applications used for gathering information in a world where encrypted traffic is becoming more and more common.

As keyloggers become more advanced, the ability to detect them becomes more difficult. They can violate a user’s privacy for months, or even years, without being noticed. During that time frame, a keylogger can collect a lot of information about the user it is monitoring. A keylogger can potential obtain not only passwords and log-in names, but credit card numbers, bank account details, contacts, interests, web browsing habits, and much more. All this collected information can be used to steal user’s personal documents, money, or even their identity.

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A keylogger might be as simple as an .exe and a .dll that is placed in a computer and activated upon boot up via an entry in the registry. Or, the more sophisticated keyloggers, such as the Perfect Keylogger or ProBot Activity Monitor have developed a full line of nasty abilities including:

” Undetectable in the process list and invisible in operation
” A kernel keylogger driver that captures keystrokes even when the user is logged off
” A remote deployment wizard
” The ability to create text snapshots of active applications
” The ability to capture http post data (including log-ins/passwords)
” The ability to timestamp record workstation usage
” HTML and text log file export
” Automatic e-mail log file delivery

All keyloggers are not used for illegal purposes. A variety of other uses have surfaced. Keyloggers have been used to monitor web sites visited as a means of parental control over children. They have been actively used to prevent child pornography and avoid children coming in contact with dangerous elements on the web. Additionally, in December, 2001, a federal court ruled that the FBI did not need a special wiretap order to place a keystroke logging device on a suspect’s computer. The judge allowed the FBI to keep details of its key logging device secret (citing national security concerns). The defendant in the case, Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., indicted for gambling and loan-sharking, used encryption to protect a file on his computer. The FBI used the keystroke logging device to capture Scarfo’s password and gain access to the needed file.

Best Monitoring Software on the Planet!

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The Advancement of the Keylogger

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How do people get this basic information about you?

When you visit another web site, information about you can be retrieved. Basically, information is intercepted and used by others to track your Internet activities.

How do you stop this from happening?

First of all, it is possible to serf the web anonymously and thereby stop leaving a trail for others to find. Note that this is not fool-proof, but it makes it much harder for people to know who you are. There are products called anonymous proxy servers that help protect you. The anonymous proxy server replaces your Internet address for its own. This has the effect of hiding your IP address and making it much harder for people to track you. Managed PC Care…

How do I get an anonymous proxy server?

There are many vendors who sell anonymous proxy servers. There are also free proxy servers available to you. Two such products are ShadowSurf and Guardster. Guardster (http://www.guardster.com/) offers various services for anonymous and secure access to the web, some paid as well as a free service. ShadowSurf (http://www.shadowsurf.com/) ShadowSurf provides anonymous surfing at their site for free. Go to it and you will find a box to enter a URL that you want no one to track. There are many others, but here are two that are frequently used.

Another interesting product, given the recent news about the Google search engine filtering its findings for the Chinese government, is Anonymizer (http://www.anonymizer.com). This company, among others, recently (Feb 1st, 2006) pressed that it “is developing a new anti-censorship solution that will enable Chinese citizens to safely access the entire Internet filter-free” (Press Release).

Does an anonymous proxy server make you 100% safe?

No. Still, you are much better off if you use such technology.

What other things should I be concerned about when trying to keep my private information private?

Three other items come to mind when trying to keep your information private. First, you can use an encrypted connection to hide your surfing. This article does not go into detail on this, but search the web and you will find a lot of information on this. Secondly, delete cookies after each session. Third, you can configure your browser to remove JavaScript, Java, and active content. This actually leads to limitations, so you need to think about the cost/benefit of this course of action.

Anything else?

Wishing you happy and safe surfing!

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Surfing the Web Anonymously - Questions to Ask