privacy

Google’s New Privacy Policy Allows Ads to Follow You Everywhere

October 23, 2016 By Amanda Blankenship 3 Comments

Google has become a leader in advertising since the company bought DoubleClick in 2007. Now Google targets advertising through what people search and websites they commonly visit. Google’s new privacy policy will allow Google to get even more specific with the ads that appear on your internet browser.

When the company purchased DoubleClick Google’s founder, Sergey Brin, said privacy would be the company’s number one concern. For the past nine years Google kept DoubleClick’s database of web-browsing records completely separate from Google’s database. This was a promise Google made to DoubleClick when the business deal was made. Google, however, quietly got rid of that last section of the privacy policy stating that the company would keep the two databases separate.

What Does Google’s New Privacy Policy Mean?

DoubleClick, when purchased, was a completely separate database and was kept separate from the data Google has collected from Gmail and other accounts. This summer when Google got rid of the last line in the privacy statement it replaced it with a new line that states browsing habits from accounts through DoubleClick “may be” combined with data from Google.

This change has been enabled for all new Google accounts since the line was altered. Older Google accounts were prompted via email to opt-in to the new privacy policy over the summer.

So, what does that mean for Google users? Not much will change. According to ProPublica, the only notable change will be that the DoubleClick ads that appear on your browser currently may be customized. This means that you may see your name or other information Google knows about you on the advertisements on the side of the page. It also opens up the information Google is able to gather from you to produce ads. Advertisements may be able to be constructed of emails, websites they visit and the searches they perform.

Controversy About Google’s New Privacy Policy

Connecting data from web browsing habits to someone’s personal information has been a controversial topic for years. In 2000 the online advertising industry formed the Network Advertising Initiative. This initiative served to outline ethical codes for online advertising. This promised to provide consumers a notice when their data was collected for ads and the option to opt out of allowing your data to be collected.

Since then most online ad tracking had been anonymous (for the most part). When DoubleClick was bought by Google in 2007 the privacy policy stated, “DoubleClick’s ad-serving technology will be targeted based only on the non-personally-identifiable information.” This did not change until 2012.

In 2012, Google changed the policy to allow some of your search information to be used. When changes were made four years ago it simply allowed Google to share data between different Google services (Gmail, search, etc.). It kept everything from double click separate. However, now people may be personally identified by the advertisements on the page in front of them.

Google is Changing Advertising

This move by Google is a big blow to something the online ad industry has been trying to convince internet users of for some time: that web tracking is mostly anonymous. In more recent years Facebook and other websites have been trying to combine web tracking with the names of actual internet users. Until a few months ago, however, Google held the line on the anonymity of advertising.

Google being the last huge website to hold the line on privacy where advertising is concerned was a pretty big deal as the company holds the largest internet database.

Paul Ohm, a professor of Privacy and Technology, said, “The fact that DoubleClick data wasn’t being regularly connected to personally identifiable information was a really significant last stand. It was a border wall between being watched everywhere and maintaining a tiny semblance of privacy,” Ohm said. “That wall has just fallen.”

Why is Google’s Privacy Policy Changing?

Andrea Faville, a spokeswoman for Google, stated that the new privacy policy was a update to adjust to smartphone users. “We updated our ads system, and the associated user controls, to match the way people use Google today: across many different devices,” Faville wrote in an email. She also noted that the change is optional for users. If you don’t opt-in you will see no change.

If you were an existing Google user you may have supported the changes in the privacy policy without really knowing it. Google would have prompted you to opt-in with phrasing like “Some new features for your Google account.”

New features outlined in the new policy didn’t receive much attention at the time. In all reality, it gives the company a different type of control over the type of ads you see around the internet.

If you would like to opt-out of Google’s new privacy policy, visit the “Activity Controls” on Google’s “My Account” page. Uncheck the box next to “Include Chrome browsing history and activity from websites and apps that use Google services.”

Photo: SEO and Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí

FBI Demands Apple and Google Build in Access to Your Encrypted Phone Data

October 17, 2014 By Kara Pendleton Leave a Comment

Fairly fresh on the heels of the NSA spying scandal, FBI Director James Comey is now insisting that if companies such as Apple and Google don’t build in front door access for law enforcement to your data, criminals will get away and victims will not see justice. Comments from readers on various reports about this latest dramatic announcement are resoundingly distrustful of this demand, with some citing the Fourth Amendment and FISA.

“The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), enacted by Congress after the abuses of the 1960s and 70s, regulated the government’s conduct of intelligence surveillance inside the United States. It generally requires the government to seek warrants before monitoring American’s communications. In 2001, however, President Bush authorized the NSA to launch a warrantless wiretapping program, and in 2008 Congress ratified and expanded that program,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The ACLU also explains that, “the FISA Amendments Act, passed in 2008 and reauthorized in 2012, gives the National Security Agency almost unchecked power to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and emails.” Comey’s plea for cooperation from the communications giants included a claim that he has not seen the rogue or lawless conduct by law enforcement that people are worried about.

When the point was made to him that compliance would require more than one version of each phone be made in order to accommodate foreign customers whose countries can’t use the NSA-spying-enabled access, Comey admitted that he had not completely thought through what he was insisting upon.

Apple’s response was a written statement making clear that it is still committed to customer privacy, explaining that unlike their competitors, Apple cannot access your data because they cannot get past your passcode. The company added that it has never and will never cooperate with the government in building in back door access to your data.

Under the concept of “innocent until proven guilty” comes the belief that it is better for a guilty man to be free than an innocent man to be wrongly jailed. Comey asked, during his speech, if we are so mistrustful of government and law enforcement that we would let bad guys walk and victims without justice.

To some, he is ignoring the rule of law in this country and urging private companies to aid government in violating Constitutionally-protected rights of the citizenry, under the guise of acting to the benefit of society by stripping it of freedom to privacy. To others, he is acting in the only responsible way law enforcement can to ensure justice is done, even if some rights of the innocent have to be violated. Its a small price to pay.

Financial Reasons to Delete Your Facebook Account

March 7, 2014 By Danielle Warchol 1 Comment

For many, Facebook has become the go to website to keep up with friends and family. It has also become much more to a lot of people who spend more and more of their time there. The fact is that for many, Facebook is more of a financial detriment than it is a money saver. What’s worse, it can be hurting you financially in ways that you don’t even realize. The truth is, most people would be better off just deleting their account. Here are some of the financial reasons why:

Applications

Do you have a lot of applications on your Facebook account? Maybe you like to play a lot of games or enjoy several of the add-ons available for your account. When you sign up for those apps, have you noticed the pop-up disclaimer saying that you need to give the app access toy our Facebook account? Giving the app access means that the app and its developers may now have access to your personal information, and you have no idea how those developers may use your information.

Privacy Options

Many people are pretty lazy about their privacy settings and think that there’s no need to remove certain pieces of information from their profiles. However, not maintaining your privacy setting and hiding personal information can lead to business or scammers collecting your information for nefarious purposes. You wouldn’t give away certain private information to a random stranger on the street, so why would you let the entire internet know it?

Most people are annoyed by the constant ads on Facebook. Not only are they obnoxious to look at, but they’re usually also for completely pointless products or services. However, most of those ads are shown based on your computer viewing habits. Information and data from your profile is used to decide what ads will be posted. Again, this is a risky move because you’re allowing both the developers of these ads and Facebook itself access to your financial information, spending habits, and personal preferences.

Identity Fraud

Facebook is, more or less, a profiling service. When you like something or post information about yourself, you’re building up a profile about your preferences, choices, and decisions. Combined with posting personal information such as your birthday, address, or employment history, it’s very easy for a scammer or hacker to steal your identity.

It Could Influence Getting Approval on a Loan

Several start-up companies have created services that analyze your social media activity to determine whether or not you should be allowed to get a loan. For instance, they might determine that if you have several facebook friends who have defaulted on loans, that you’re also likely to default on a loan. While this is a bit extreme, it’s not entirely surprising as loan and credit companies are always looking for new ways to see if people should be approved for loans.

Selling Your Information

Additionally, by giving away your personal information to strangers you’ve befriended online, but never met in real life or to apps, you run the risk of hackers or scammers selling your information to businesses or credit companies. You know those credit card offers or spam mail you receive in the mail each week? Your information is being collected from somewhere, and there’s a good chance that Facebook is one of the culprits.

Comparing Yourself to Friends

All those friends that always seem to be going on great vacations and buying the latest toys can easily create envy, especially if things are tight with your finances. It doesn’t matter that they are only showing selective slices of their life that they want you to see, it can still make you feel like you deserve more in the classic trying to keep up with the Joneses scenario. By deleting your Facebook account, you’ll no longer see the unrealistic lives that people are trying to portray, and lose the feeling that you have to try and match those.

Wasted Time

The time you spend on Facebook is, in most cases, wasted time. That’s fine if you only spend a few minutes on it in the morning and evening, but there are far too many people who spend hours a day on the website. This time can be used much more productively, and the time wasted could be used to better your finances. By deleting your account, you won’t get sucked into wasting hours a day on the site when you could be doing more productive activities.

Debt Collectors Can Find You

For instance, if you’re in serious debt and you’ve been trying to avoid your debt collectors, they may be able to find you if your profile is public. They may attempt to befriend you with a false account or use public information on your profile to find other ways of contacting you.

Facebook is Forever

Most importantly, Facebook is forever. While you can deactivate your account, Facebook makes it very difficult to completely delete your profile or your information. If you once had personal information publicly displayed on your account, deleting your profile doesn’t mean that it will go away. Anything you write on your account is likely to be available to Facebook and app developers for a very long time.

(Image courtesy of Mike Licht)

10 Ways to Keep Your Belongings Private and Reduce the Risk of Theft

March 15, 2013 By Jennifer Derrick 5 Comments

One of the easiest ways to prevent theft (aside from locking the doors, which is something too many people neglect but is effective) is to keep what you buy and what you own private. If other people know what you own, you’re more of a target than if a crook has to gamble and guess that you have valuables in your home.

A neighbor was robbed once because he told a friend that he’d bought a new, top of the line gaming computer. What he thought was a conversation amongst friends turned out to be trouble because the friend mentioned it to some other people who were thieves. Those were the people who robbed my neighbors house. A relative was robbed once because he left the boxes for a new TV and game console on the curb on trash day right after Christmas. In both cases, the robbery was the result of failing to keep their acquisitions private. So how can you keep something like this from happening to you? Here are some tips.

Don’t leave packaging by the curb

When you buy things like TV’s, computers, tablets, or gaming consoles, don’t leave the boxes by the curb for your regular trash pickup. Take them to the dump yourself. If you can’t do that, at least break them down and cut them up so that you can place them in garbage bags so they aren’t readily visible to the casual passerby.

Unload purchases in the garage

When you return home, unload your purchases in the garage, or pull as close to the door as possible. Unloading your purchases in the garage means that no one else can see what you’ve bought. If you don’t have a garage, try to get as close to your front door as possible, pull around the back of your house, or use a service entrance if your building has one. The fewer people that can see you lugging your stuff across the parking lot or down the driveway, the better.

Shut your blinds at night

It’s also good to shut them when you’re not home. Remember that when you have your lights on and the blinds open at night, anyone passing by can clearly see into your house and you won’t even know they’re looking. Also, while it’s nice to let the sun shine in while you’re at work, people walking by can see inside your windows with very little effort, particularly if you live in a community building where people regularly walk by your windows. Shutting the blinds keeps out prying eyes.

Conceal your valuables

Conceal valuables when company or contractors come over. If anyone that you don’t know well visits your house, conceal your valuables as much as possible. It may not be possible to hide everything, but you can put things like jewelry and small electronics away, and close the doors to unused rooms.

Don’t post pictures of your belongings

Don’t post pictures on Facebook or other public websites that show your valuables, particularly if you post other identifying information about yourself such as full name, hometown, etc. It doesn’t take much for a crook to piece together your whereabouts based on your postings. Keep things like jewelry and electronics out of the pictures.

Don’t talk about what you own

It’s nice to tell people about your new computer or TV, or that great necklace your husband got you for Christmas. But you never know who is listening to the conversation you’re having in the restaurant, or with whom the people you’re telling might share the information. It’s best not to discuss what you own with other people. “Loose lips sink ships,” is an old saying form WWII, but it’s appropriate in this case

Don’t flaunt your belongings

Don’t wear your best jewelry out every day. Yes, it’s nice to use that iPad or swanky netbook on your commute, but it also makes you a target for theft. Even if you think you’re being smart by keeping that iPod in your pocket, thieves can tell you have one because of the distinctive earbuds. You have to weigh the convenience of using your devices out in public against the fact that doing so might make you a target for thieves.

Don’t Tweet about your acquisitions

Similar to not posting pictures on social media, you also don’t want to Tweet about your stuff. It might be fun to say, “On the way home with my new MacBook pro or next gen XBox,” but if you’ve posted other identifying information about yourself in the past, you can be marked. Just keep it to yourself.

Be careful with Craigslist or Freecycle

I’ve written about the security risks of these sites before. Yes, it’s a great way to get rid of stuff you no longer want, but the very fact that you’re posting about your stuff can get you into trouble. If you do list items for sale, never post or mention your address and never invite potential buyers to your home. Always meet people in a public place. That way, they don’t know where you live and cannot come to rob you.

Be careful with cash

Don’t talk about your cash hoard, or mention your favorite hiding place. If you take a lot of cash out of an ATM or withdraw from a teller, be aware of anyone following you when you leave. Don’t flash wads of cash in public. Cash is harder for a thief to spot than a big TV, but not impossible. If they think you have a lot stashed in your home based on your public behavior, it’s not out of the question for one to try to follow you home and figure out where you live.

Most burglars don’t want to go on “fishing expeditions.” They don’t want to take the risk of breaking into a house that has nothing of value. If they’re going to risk jail time, they’re going to do it going after a known quantity. If they don’t know what valuables you have, your house is less of a target than the guy down the block that they know for certain has a big TV, jewelry, and a cash hoard.

Now, this isn’t to say that you’ll never be robbed. Sometimes, as in the case of my neighbor, you think you’re talking to a good friend but it turns out that the friends of the friends (whom you don’t even know) are the problem. You can’t prevent everything. However, if you make some effort to keep what you own private, you can at least reduce your risk.

(photo courtesy of mastermaq)

Saving Money vs. Privacy

February 22, 2013 By Jennifer Derrick Leave a Comment

We all want to save money. Unfortunately, many of the ways to save money available today require that you sacrifice at least a little bit of your privacy. Retailers, websites, and manufacturers want your personal information and information about your purchasing habits. Some of them want information about your health or family life. Your information is currency for these corporations. They can sell it to others and make money, and they can use it to market more products to you. They want the information. It’s up to you to decide whether or not the deal you’re getting is worth giving up a little bit of your privacy. Here are some ways that corporations are getting your information under the guise of giving you a deal.

Liking Companies on Social Media

When you like a company on social media, or become a follower to get access to a coupon code, deal, or printable coupon, you’re giving the retailer access to the information from your profile on that site and potentially exposing your friends, too. They may get your email, see where you live, what you buy, who your friends are and what they buy and use, where you go and what you wear. If your profile is open and you post about every detail of your life, there’s nothing stopping the retailer from knowing that, too.

Loyalty Cards

Grocery and other retail loyalty cards give the stores access to your purchasing history. They also know how you tend to pay and, since you had to fill out a form to get the card, they know your address, email, phone number, and maybe your birthdate.

Using GPT Sites

If you do surveys and other offers at GPT sites, you’re likely providing information including your address, birthday, age, ages of other family members, and your likes and dislikes. While GPT sites can be money-makers, they are also among the worst about selling your information to anyone and everyone.

Personal Information Required

Be aware that any deal that requires you to give out personal information to get is relinquishing some of your privacy. Any time you have to provide an email address, physical address, or phone number to get a coupon or a deal, you’re giving up your information in exchange.

Black Boxes in Your Car

Many auto insurers now are willing to cut you a price break if you install a “black box” in your car that tracks how far you drive, where you drive, how fast you drive, and when you drive. This enables the insurer to see if you’re a speed demon, if you have a long commute, or if you park in a high crime area. The information may give you lower rates, but it can also lead to the cancellation of your policy if the insurers don’t like what they see.

Health Insurance Questionnaires

Many health insurers now offer discounts if you are willing to submit to special screenings, or if you complete their health assessments or wellness programs. In addition to the information they get from your doctor, this extra information enables them to determine your health level and risk factors. As with the black box in your car, your health insurer may give you lower rates, but they may also use the information to justify dropping you.

Sweepstakes / Surveys

Those sweepstakes and surveys you get at the bottom of your receipt often require at least an email address to enter. A sweepstakes on a retailers’ site may require you to create a full account including your name and address to enter. Those sweepstakes you see at trade shows may give you a small freebie for entering, but what they’re really after is your information.

Not only do you sacrifice privacy by using many of these money saving tactics, you end up wasting more time, as well. Every newsletter, retailer, or coupon site that you give your email address to will send mail that clutters up your inbox. They, in turn, will probably sell your information to someone else who will send you even more email. If you give out your physical address, you’ll get snail mail. If you give out a phone number, expect telemarketing calls and texts (and if you’re on a cell plan where you have to pay per call or message, you’ll incur charges for this “spam,” as well).

All of this requires time to deal with. Sure, you can give a spam email address or have the calls go to a phone you never turn on, but at some point you have to clean out that inbox or erase the voice mail and text messages. Cleaning out the digital clutter takes time.

Some people argue that the answer to the privacy versus saving money issue is to give out bogus information. This only works to a point. If you’re signing up to receive coupons, you’re going to have to give them a valid email address so they can send the coupon to you. The same holds true with deals that will be mailed to you. Some retailers and marketers have caught on to the bogus information tactic and now validate the email or phone number you give them by making you answer an email or respond to a text before they will send you the deal. Even if you have a junk email account, you still have to wade through the crap to find the thing you wanted.

This isn’t to say that it’s never worth it to give up your information in order to get deals. Sometimes it is. You just need to make sure that you’re dealing with a reputable company, that your information won’t be abused, and that you can live with the resulting spam, snail mail, and phone calls. Or, that you can live with the larger invasions of privacy that come from agreeing to be monitored by an insurer.

Take the time to read the privacy policies on the sites you’re using and read the terms and conditions on things like loyalty cards and insurance forms. Understand what information you’re giving away and how they will use it. Make sure it won’t be used against you at some later date. If you can live with their policies and the amount of money you’ll save is worth it to you, then sign up. Otherwise, let the deals go and keep your information to yourself.

(Photo courtesy of opensourceway)