Quick Hits: Groups Plan to Identify London Rioters with Facial Recognition
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about prisoners on social media and how social media might help send some London rioters to prison. Also, news on how Facebook affects children’s brains.
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Google Group Hopes to Catch London Looters with Facial Recognition
As violence continues to grip parts of London, a loose coalition of citizens are turning to the Web to clean up the city and bring looters to justice. TechCrunch writes about one Google group that plans to use facial recognition technology to identify rioters. A similar tactic was used following the post-Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver. TechCrunch asks whether this practice is ethical, calling it “crowdsource justice.”
Woman Wins Injunction to Keep Sex Video Off Facebook
In a first of its kind case, a teacher in Northern Ireland has been granted an injunction preventing her ex-boyfriend from posting a sex video of her online. The woman alleges that her ex had threatened to post the video on Facebook, and also to send it to her bosses and her students. According to the BBC, the woman’s lawyers correctly claimed that “any clips could spread uncontrollably if they were allowed to be uploaded,” which is why a preemptive injunction was necessary.
California Asks Facebook to Take Down Prisoners’ Facebook Accounts
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has asked Facebook to assist in removing the Facebook profiles of criminals in state prisons. According to Corrections Department Secretary Matthew Cate, “access to social media allows inmates to circumvent our monitoring process and continue to engage in criminal activity.” In some cases, prisoners also use Facebook to harass their victims from afar.
Psychologist Investigates Facebook’s Effect on Children’s Brains
Psychologist Larry D. Rosen recently presented a report entitled “Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids” to the American Psychological Associtation. In his presentation, Rosen highlighted numerous findings about Facebook’s impact on children, including both positive and negative effects. The Atlantic Wire reports some of Rosen’s discoveries, including the good news that Facebook makes kids more empathetic and the bad news that Facebook can lower kids’ self-esteem.
Windows Security Vulnerability Discovered at Black Hat Conference
Black Hat, the famous security conference attended by the world’s foremost experts in hacking, is well-known for exposing significant security vulnerabilities in popular technology. CNET’s Declan McCullagh writes that Black Hat researchers recently showed how it is possible to bypass Windows’ built-in encryption tools to access password data for e-mail and websites like Facebook that has been stored in the cloud. In response to the vulnerability, Microsoft encouraged its users to use its BitLocker tool to encrypt their hard drives.
Quick Hits: Outsmarting a Facebook Stalker
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about ways to avoid a Facebook stalker, why more recruiters are turning to Facebook, and why oversharing is contributing to a culture that trivializes privacy.
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How To Beat a Facebook Stalker
In an interesting article for MarketWatch, Jon Friedman discusses how he “beat” a pseudo-stalker who had been persistently bothering him on Facebook. Friedman’s article teaches an important lesson: “Social media, for all of the hubbub, is still in its infancy.” Many people are still unsure of the etiquette they should use online and the results can be embarrassing.
Facebook Privacy Concerns Go Deep
In his Forbes blog, innovation expert Chunka Mui explains why Facebook’s myriad privacy issues are even more pronounced than most people realize. Specifically, Mui highlights Alessandro Acquisti’s recent Carnegie Mellon University study, which revealed how Facebook can effectively be used as a national identification service and how researching Facebook photos can reveal partial social security numbers. In his article, Mui makes the important point that these kinds of issues will continue to grow without proper intervention. Quoting the article, “The technology will get better, and the information that feeds it will grow,” leading to even greater data threats.
Recruiters Turning to Facebook More and More
As Facebook continues to grow, the website is becoming an important asset for hiring managers and job recruiters. This article from Fox News, originally published in the Wall Street Journal, discusses how hiring managers use Facebook contacts to fill positions and why the growth of Facebook as a recruiting tool could threaten professional social networking websites like LinkedIn.
What to do if a Facebook or LinkedIn Friend Dies
For better or worse, most people know how to act when they learn an acquaintance has died in real life. However, the issue becomes much more complicated when the acquaintance is an online friend on Facebook or LinkedIn. This article from the Salt Lake Tribune talks about how to handle the death of an online friend, and what is the proper etiquette when it comes to de-friending the deceased.
Oversharing Trivializes Privacy
In a strongly-worded op-ed, the Winnipeg Free Press takes social media oversharers to task for trivializing privacy concerns with mundane updates about their daily lives. Quoting the article, “We as a society have become willing slaves to social media and in the process happily sacrificed any semblance of personal privacy.” While that might be an overstatement, it does speak to the importance of personal responsibility when it comes to sharing online.
Quick Hits: A History of Photo Sharing on Facebook
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about the history of photo sharing on Facebook, why real name policies online are revolutionary, what one mom found when she went undercover online, and the growth of facial recognition technology.
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The History of Photos on Facebook
PCMag shares an interesting infographic from Pixable.com that details how photo sharing has changed over Facebook’s history. The information is very interesting and reveals the many subtle ways that Facebook has pushed users to share more and more photos on the site. Facebook predicts that by the end of the summer, there will be more than 100 billion photos on the site.
Why Real Name Policies are Revolutionary
In a very engaging article for The Atlantic, Alexis Madrigal explains why Facebook and Google’s policies of requiring real names are revolutionary. Quoting the article, “In real life, we expect very few statements to be public, persistent, and attached to your real identity… Online, Google and Facebook require an inversion of this assumed norm. Every statement you make on Google Plus or Facebook is persistent and strongly attached to your real identity through your name.” Madrigal’s assessment reflects the growing importance of online reputation management.
Aussie Mom Goes Undercover on Facebook
An Australian mother wanted to see what her 15-year-old daughter might face online, so she set-up a fake Facebook account pretending to be a 14-year-old girl. After gaining 76 friends, the mom set out to see the kinds of things teenagers share online. She was quickly shocked to see cyberbullying, pornography, and vulgar exchanges. While the mom’s actions violated Facebook’s terms of service, they did provide insight into why Australia is debating a possible resolution to allow parents access to their children’s social media accounts.
Facial Recognition Technology Grows Despite Privacy Concerns
Despite considerable concern from privacy advocates, facial recognition technology continues to boom, particularly within consumer tech products.This piece from The Atlantic Wire discusses how consumer interest in facial recognition technology has led to the development of a range of products, including a device that uses facial recognition to customize TV programming based on a scan of who is watching.
Quick Hits: Undetweetable Website Archives Deleted Tweets
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about how deleted tweets are “undetweetable,” Facebook’s upcoming design tweaks, new facial recognition technology, and a guide to Google+ privacy settings.
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Undetweetable Archives Deleted Tweets
When someone deletes a tweet, he or she probably assumes that nobody will be able to access it (and rightly so). Unfortunately, that’s not the case, as demonstrated by the new website Undetweetable. The website was created by Dean Terry who says it is meant “to test limits, to question privacy, data ownership and explore the idea of the permanence of online expression.” Twitter has already forced Terry to shut down Undetweetable, but the website still retains all of its archived tweets.
Facebook Working on Unfiltered News Feed, Expanded Like Buttons to Improve Advertising
ZDNet writes that Facebook is experimenting with an unfiltered news feed and expanded functionality for the site’s ubiquitous “like” button. Facebook is making the changes to improve advertising on the site. As ZDNet explains, “Facebook’s algorithms don’t display every piece of content that is shared, limiting the impact of the various advertising campaigns launched on the website. Facebook engineers are reportedly working to create an unfiltered News Feed that would show everything your friends are doing on the social network: from what games and apps they are using on the site to what Pages of companies and products they Like.”
Facial Recognition Software Tracks Faces Over Time
A new software program from a University of Washington scientist and Google engineer is pushing the limits of facial recognition technology. The software, which has already been incorporated into Google’s Picasa photo-sharing service, synchs an individual’s facial features and expressions across multiple photos to create a movie. In Picasa, the feature is known as Face Movie and it also includes a name tagging feature. While technologically impressive, this software raises numerous privacy questions. If software like this can do such a good job of organizing unstructured photos, what could it do on a website like Facebook, where there are billions of available images?
Lifehacker Guide to Google+ Privacy Settings
Gawker’s Lifehacker blog has a great guide to Google+ privacy settings. Included in the guide are detailed instructions on how to conceal one’s profile, manage Google’s Social Circles feature, and how to ensure your posts don’t unintentionally end up being public.
Quick Hits: New Jersey Politician Resigns Over Nude Photos
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about another political scandal involving nude photos, a mini-conference on Facebook breakups, and Foursquare’s potential privacy concerns.
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New Jersey Politician Resigns Over Nude Photo Scandal
Thanks to Rep. Anthony Weiner’s long and embarrassing sexting scandal, most politicians will now think twice before sending nude photos of themselves online. Unfortunately, for one New Jersey politician, Weiner’s revelation came too late. The county politician, who had been sexting with a woman for years, was recently forced to resign when the woman shared his photos with a local conservative blogger. The politician is now investigating legal action against the woman and the blogger for possible criminal and civil violations.
Google+ is the Fastest Growing Website to 25 Million Users
Demonstrating why it might be a viable competitor to Facebook, Google+ has reached the 25 million user milestone faster than any other website in history. It only took Google one month to accumulate 25 million users. By comparison, Facebook and Twitter reached that milestone in three years and two and a half years, respectively.
Teaching Teens to Break Up on Facebook Responsibly
How to break up on Facebook is not a lesson that you’ll see taught in most classrooms, but a group of public health officials recently discussed the issue with 200 teens during a special one-day conference sponsored by the Boston Public Health Commission. Facebook is the hub of many teens’ social lives, and going through the public embarrassment of an online break up can be especially traumatic. The conference also hoped to teach teens a sense of personal responsibility in their interpersonal relationships by showing that face-to-face communication is the best way to end a relationship.
Should Employees Be Disciplined or Fired Over Facebook?
In his iGeneration blog for ZDNet, Zack Whittaker asks whether its right for companies to discipline or fire employees for online misconduct. In the article, Whittaker talks with a representative from the National Labor Relations Board, and discusses how labor law may be changing to reflect the new realities of the digital age.
Foursquare’s Business Plans Could Pose Privacy Risk
BNET’s Erik Sherman writes about the location check-in service Foursquare and its new plans to gain revenues. According to Sherman, Foursquare’s plan “is to help merchants recognize consumer behavior and then market more effectively to them.” On the surface, that sounds similar to what other social networking websites have done, except there’s one key difference. As a location-sharing tool, Foursquare has access to information on where people go and what they do. Therefore, the personalization being touted is much more advanced.
As Sherman explains, “The minute you start analysis on people at specific stores, particularly smaller stores with repeat customers, consumer anonymity begins to fade. If someone came in with a coupon for five people, you start to remember them. Set the right specials, and a store owner could begin matching faces, names (especially from credit card purchases), and online identities.” These plans could set up Foursquare for some uncomfortable questioning in front of an increasingly privacy-conscious Congress if things don’t go well for the company.
Quick Hits: Researcher Claims Social Media Ruining Youth
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about a researcher’s claims that social media is creating a generation of narcissists (and why that assessment may not be backed up by science). We also have info on Facebook’s facial recognition technology, tips on online etiquette, and news on Microsoft’s location sharing policies.
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Researcher Warns Social Media Technology is Ruining Children
British researcher Baroness Greenfield is warning that Facebook, Twitter, and other social media could be creating “a generation obsessed with themselves, who have short attention spans and a childlike desire for constant feedback on their lives.” Despite this dire proclamation, however, the Guardian’s science blogger Martin Robbins writes that Greenfield’s warnings are overblown. In a response, Robbins writes that no research has been performed on the issue and criticized the professor for using the media “as a platform to push her theories to the public.”
Facebook Facial Recognition Program Violates German Law
In a recent statement, Johannes Caspar, data protection commissioner for the state of Hamburg, criticized Facebook’s new facial recognition feature, saying that he doesn’t think the technology “conforms with EU data protection law.” Caspar says his office has “repeatedly asked Facebook to shut down the facial recognition function and to delete the previously stored data,” without success. The feature, which has been available in the United States since December 2010, uses facial recognition technology to identify a user’s friends in a photo and suggests “tagging” them.
Minding Your Manners (and Protecting Your Reputation) Online
A special feature in the Toronto Sun discusses digital etiquette and how responsible social networking can help protect one’s online reputation. In the article, social media experts Scott Stratten and Dave Larsen offer several smart pieces of advice including a reminder to “never say, text, tweet or upload anything you don’t want to see on a billboard with your name, face and logo on it with your boss, mom and best client driving by.”
Microsoft Tweaks Location Sharing Amid Privacy Debates
Microsoft, which has positioned itself as a champion of consumer privacy issues among tech companies, has quietly announced that it will stop publishing estimated location data from its smartphones. Microsoft’s decision comes as Google and Apple are still feeling the negative effects of reports that they surreptitiously tracked user data from mobile devices.
Quick Hits: Cops Use Facebook to Catch Crook and Crooks Use Facebook to Rob Store
On top of our usual array of interesting privacy and reputation management news, today’s Quick Hits feature a pair of stories involving criminals and Facebook.
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Fugitive Arrested After Taunting Police on Facebook
A New York man facing domestic violence and harassment charges was recently apprehended after using Facebook to taunt police. The fugitive, who posted such taunts as “Catch me if you can, I’m in Brooklyn,” was captured, appropriately enough, in front of his computer.
Fake Facebook Profile Used in Store Robbery
In Belgium, an enterprising band of thieves used a fake Facebook profile as a lure to rob a grocery store. The robbers stole the keys to the store and emptied its safe after tricking the store’s manager into showing up for a date with a non-existent women that he thought he had been interacting with online. This story demonstrates how important it is to only accept friend requests from people whom you know in real life or can verify.
Mom-to-Be Ponders Facebook Etiquette in New York Times
A mom-to-be has an interesting question in the New York Times’ Social Q’s column. She asks for advice on how to tell her over-sharing mother-in-law that she doesn’t want any information about her pregnancy or child posted on Facebook. In his response, Philip Galanes explains that bringing up the subject in a direct, but respectful way is the best approach.
Kashmir Hill: Why ‘Privacy by Design’ is the New Corporate Hotness
In her always entertaining privacy blog for Forbes, Kashmir Hill talks about the principles of ‘privacy by design’ — a fast-growing practice among Internet companies. Speaking with Ann Cavoukian, Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner, Hill describes how baking in smart privacy functionality is a must for companies in a commercial and legislative environment where privacy is a critically important issue.
Privacy Researchers Dig Into Google’s Location Database
Following the revelation that Google had collected the MAC addresses of millions of personal computers and mobile phones via its Street View vehicles, the company quietly claimed it had fixed the problem. This article from CNET reveals, however, that security researchers are not content to take Google at its word. Spurred on by Google’s lack of transparency, researchers like Ashkan Soltani are digging into Google’s geolocation API to see whether there are still problems with the service.
Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik Talks Privacy on Bloomberg TV
This afternoon, Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik is appearing on Bloomberg TV to talk about online privacy issues, the value of data to Internet advertisers and data miners, and how privacy-centric business models can find success in the Internet economy.
The segment will air live on Bloomberg TV at 3:00pm PT/6:00pm ET. You can watch it online at Bloomberg.com/TV. We’ll have a recap of Michael’s segment after it airs here on the Reputation.com blog.
Quick Hits: Webcam Lets You Log-in to Facebook with Your Face
In today’s Quick Hits, we share a novel way to sign-in to Facebook, talk about Facebook monitoring tools, offer a warning on recent social media scams, and discuss efforts to educate at-risk Internet users.
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Webcam Lets You Log-in to Facebook with Your Face
A new webcam called YouCam 5 is using facial recognition technology in an unusual and interesting way. According to PCMag.com, YouCam 5 has a feature called “Face Log-in” that, as the name suggests, allows users to log-in to Web services such as Facebook with their face. The software will also log you out of your service if it detects that your face isn’t in front of the camera. Could YouCam represent a new way of protecting oneself from online impersonators and account hackers?
Wall Street Journal Reviews Facebook Monitoring Tool
In a lengthy piece at The Wall Street Journal, Walter Mossberg reviews the social media monitoring tool SocialGuard, which is designed to help parents protect their children on websites like Facebook. According to Mossberg, the service operates in the background sending e-mails when it finds objectionable content, meaning parents don’t have to “intrude” into their child’s Facebook experience. However, there are drawbacks, including the fact that the software can’t detect all elements of a Facebook profile.
Norway Scams and Amy Winehouse Scams Flourish on Facebook
Again demonstrating how popular news can be used by cybercriminals, scams related to the recent attacks in Oslo, Norway and the death of singer Amy Winehouse have flourished across the Internet. Patrik Runald, senior manager of security research at Websense, notes that “videos are an especially popular lure,” encouraging Web surfers to stick to their trusted news sources if they see a link offering a gruesome or macabre video online.
Consumer Advocates Argue for Internet Education for the Poor and Elderly
As Internet use is becoming more and more ubiquitous, some consumer advocates are pushing for education initiatives and strong consumer protection laws to help the poor and elderly surf the Web safely. At a policy forum event covered by USA Today, Nicol Turner-Lee, Vice President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said we “don’t want new adopters to face potential harms they’re not ready for.” Given the rise of social media, as well as the growth of data abuse by data miners and marketers, Turner-Lee’s concerns are merited.
Quick Hits: Facebook Creates “Online Education Center” for Businesses
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Facebook’s “Online Education Center” for businesses and share two compelling Op-Ed articles on personal privacy.
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Facebook Helps Businesses with New “Online Education Center”
In an effort to help brands get better use out of Facebook, the company has set-up an “online education center” for businesses. The webpage, found at Facebook.com/business, offers advice on Facebook advertising, setting up a Facebook Fan Page, and other business-focused features of the site. Colleen Taylor at GigaOm wisely notes that Facebook’s announcement came not long after Google faced criticism from businesses for not yet allowing branded Google+ accounts.
Facebook Makes it Easier to Opt Out of Facial Recognition Feature
According to Bloomberg, “Facebook Inc. made it easier for subscribers to opt out of the ‘tag suggestions’ facial- recognition feature, addressing privacy concerns raised by Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen.” The feature, which uses facial recognition technology to identify a Facebook user and then suggests “tagging” him or her, has faced considerable criticism from privacy advocates since Facebook rolled it out to a wide audience in June.
How Google+ Can Help Recruiters Find Candidates
Having a strong Google+ profile may be a powerful new tool for job seekers. This article from job search expert Miriam Salpeter for the U.S. News and World Report discusses how Google+ users can use their profiles to catch the attention of recruiters and hiring managers.
Op-Ed: Time is Running Out on Internet Companies on Online Tracking Issue
In a recent editorial, the San Jose Mercury News calls on Internet companies to get their act together regarding online tracking or face the reality of federal legislation. Quoting the article, “Consumers have legitimate worries about the information that’s being collected and used online. It’s time for the Internet industry to come to a collective agreement about the privacy protections it will guarantee.” The editorial goes on to offer a vision of what the final solution should look like, “The ultimate goal should be a one-click option for consumers that protects their privacy without the need to install complex software or read the fine print of a wordy disclosure statement.”
Ann Cavoukian: It’s Possible to Have Both Facial Recognition and Privacy
Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and a stalwart consumer privacy advocate, writes that facial recognition technology and personal privacy do not have to be mutually exclusive. In an op-ed for the The Globe and Mail, Cavoukian writes that the key is “privacy by design.” Quoting the op-ed, “Privacy is all about freedom of choice and personal control. We need to realize that the same technology that serves to threaten privacy may also be enlisted to its protection. This entails the use of Privacy by Design – embedding privacy directly into technologies and business practices, resulting in privacy and functionality.”