October 2013

How companies are tracking you online today

Cookies are still widely used, but online advertisers have been developing, deploying and improving upon more sophisticated methods for years: authenticated tracking, browser fingerprinting, cross-device tracking and more.

Each method suggests a unique set of implications for privacy and users, but the common theme is this: These new methods for persistent tracking are generally more persistent, exacting a higher cost for a clean start. Rather than simply deleting cookies, consumers might have to throw away a device, forsake a social network or delete a rich archive of e-mails. There’s also a generalizable lesson for policymakers and advocates: Legislative and regulatory responses to personal privacy threats must be based on broad principles, rather than specific techniques. The history shows technology itself will simply shape-shift to squeeze through unforeseen loopholes.

Facebook offers free Wi-Fi through Cisco, plus updated search

[Commentary] Facebook and Cisco announced a partnership that would offer free Wi-Fi to customers if they check in to a business on Facebook.

The business would then be able to access anonymous data from their customers’ Facebook accounts, allowing them to better understand their target audiences, and potentially run more ads on Facebook. The program was developed by Meraki, a small cloud-based Wi-Fi based company acquired by Cisco in 2012. The idea behind the program is to give Facebook access to small-business ad revenue, while giving businesses the opportunity to understand their audience better, connect Cisco to a growing mobile audience, plus keep customers connected to Wi-Fi (and their online friends).

How a telecom helped the government spy on me

[Commentary] Over the past several months, the Obama Administration has defended the government's far-reaching data collection efforts, arguing that only criminals and terrorists need worry. The nation's leading Internet and telecommunications companies have said they are committed to the sanctity of their customers' privacy. I have some very personal reasons to doubt those assurances. In 2004, my telephone records, as well as those of another New York Times reporter and two reporters from the Washington Post, were obtained by federal agents assigned to investigate a leak of classified information. What happened next says a lot about what happens when the government's privacy protections collide with the day-to-day realities of global surveillance.

Budget Constraints, Cyberattacks Biggest Threats to IT Organizations, Survey Says

Information technology (IT) decision-makers in state and local government think budget constraints are the biggest threat to their respective IT organizations and federal-level IT leaders claim cyberattacks are their biggest threat, according to a new survey released by Cisco.

The results showed a heavy focus on cybersecurity matters in government. Although 35 percent of respondents said budget constraints were the biggest threat to their IT infrastructure, 17 percent said that cyberattacks were the biggest threat, and 22 percent of respondents volunteered that all options offered on the survey (budget constraints, cyberattacks, limited bandwidth, increased demand for constituent services and employee personal devices) are collectively considered the greatest threat to IT organization.

Contrary to what you’ve heard, Android is almost impenetrable to malware

Until now, Google hasn’t talked about malware on Android because it did not have the data or analytic platform to back its security claims. But that changed dramatically when Google’s Android Security chief Adrian Ludwig reported data showing that less than an estimated 0.001% of app installations on Android are able to evade the system’s multi-layered defenses and cause harm to users. Android, built on an open innovation model, has quietly resisted the locked down, total control model spawned by decades of Windows malware.

New Diplomatic Avenue Emerges, in 140-Character Bursts

Countries all over the world, dictatorships and democracies alike, have in the last few years sought to tame — or plug entirely — that real-time fire hose of public opinion known as Twitter. But on the sidelines of the General Assembly over the last couple of weeks, ministers, ambassadors and heads of state of all sorts, including those who have tussled with Twitter, the company, seized on Twitter, the social network, to spin and spread their message.

Britain: Online Surveillance Challenged

Three British organizations have filed a legal challenge in the European Court of Human Rights to the online surveillance programs of the British spy agency the Government Communications Headquarters. The groups are seeking to have the court declare the collection of metadata to be an illegal breach of the right to privacy. The case, financed through donations, has been brought by English PEN, the Open Rights Group and Big Brother Watch, as well as by a German activist.

In Leaked Video, Egyptian Army Officers Debate How to Sway News Media

A leaked video of senior Egyptian Army officers debating how to influence the news media during the months preceding the military takeover offers a rare glimpse of the anxiety within the institution at the prospect of civilian oversight.

Calling even mildly disrespectful news coverage “dangerous” and abnormal, the officers call for a restoration of “red lines” that had protected the military for decades. And they urge Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi to pressure the roughly two dozen big media owners into “self-censorship.” Mixing humor and cool confidence, General Sisi tells the officers that they must adjust to the new reality of public and parliamentary oversight, but he also counsels patience while he recruits allies in the news media.

Tech groups tell surveillance review panel to focus on oversight, transparency

The Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology, the group convened by President Barack Obama to review the government’s surveillance programs, should examine transparency and oversight measures, two technology industry associations told the review group.

In a letter, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) suggested topics for the group to examine, including the ability for tech companies to disclose more information about the surveillance requests they receive and the resources available to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. ITIC represents tech companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Symantec, while SIIA represents Google, Intuit and Oracle. Companies should be able to tell their users how many and what kinds of surveillance requests they receive from the US government and how many accounts are affected by those requests, the letter states.

Comcast’s Usage-Based Internet Trial Reaches More Markets

Comcast has expanded trials of new usage-based Internet data plans that are tailored for both light and heavy broadband users.

The latest markets to join the market trial are Huntsville and Mobile (AL); Augusta (GA); and Charleston (SC). Comcast has already introduced these pilot policies in Savannah (GA); central Kentucky; Jackson (MS); Knoxville and Memphis (TN). Those markets are all kicking the tires on a monthly 300-Gigabyte plan that charges customers extra if they exceed that threshold, as well as an optional plan for lighter users. To help customers get used to the new policies, Comcast is also giving customers three courtesy months for exceeding the monthly 300 GB cap in any 12-month period, meaning that overage charges will only be applied if a customer exceeds the 300 GB threshold for a fourth time in that span.

Benton

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