May
15
An Intentional Mistake: The Anatomy of Google’s Wi-Fi Sniffing Debacle (via Wired.com).
And a related piece: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/05/marius_milne/
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Mar
29
Google has introduced a new tool called Account Activity. It allows you to subscribe to a monthly report that summarizes what’s been going on in your online Google accounts. Depending on the Google services you use, the reports could include information about the number of emails, the contacts you most interact with, and the types of searches being performed.
To me, the announcement is a little vague and the screenshot provided rather general in nature. So, we’ll just have to see what the reports contain and how insightful they are about the ways in which our activities are being tracked and profiled. The move may be more about appearing to be transparent than actually being transparent with users about the data that is being tracked.
See Google’s announcement for yourself: Giving you more insight into your Google Account activity.
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Mar
12
Google’s moves raise questions about its “don’t be evil” motto (via San Jose Mercury News)
Some highlights from a good, meaty article:
- ”Google was simply using its search dominance, critics charged, to prop up a less popular product, Google+”
- ”privacy … is emerging as a centerpiece of the debate about whether Google is willing to sell its soul for money.”
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Mar
10
As reported by EPIC.org, a Pew study found that users of search engines were pleased with the quality of search results but opposed targeted advertising and search results, and were generally anxious about the collection of personal information by search engines. Specifically, 73 percent of those surveyed were opposed to search engines tracking their searches, and 68 percent opposed behavioral advertising.
A whopping 83 percent of those surveyed use Google to conduct searches. Recently, Google began combining user data gathered from more than sixty Google products and services—including Google search–to create a single, comprehensive profile for each user.
Feb
28
How to Remove Your YouTube Viewing and Search History Before Googles New Privacy Policy Takes Effect (via Electronic Frontier Foundation)
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Nov
28
Very interesting and not something I've seen highlighted anywhere else.
Google future-proofs your e-mail, documents from spies
news.cnet.com
Recent changes enable 'forward secrecy' so that encrypted e-mail stored now can't easily be snooped on in the future. Read this blog post by Elinor Mills on InSecurity Complex.
Nov
26
Google starts to roll out extra verification security measures for its accounts, much like those used by many banks.
Google Recommends 2-Step Process To Protect Your Account [News]
www.makeuseof.com
Most savvy Internet users probably have at one at least Google account – mainly because Google, for good or bad, crosses paths with so many other websites that it's hard to avoid not using the services and apps it has to offer. If you use your Google sign-in ID for multiple websites, and/or sign int…
Nov
12
It seems even Google can get password advice wrong.
Light Blue Touchpaper » Blog Archive » Want to create a really strong password? Don’t ask Google
www.lightbluetouchpaper.org
Google recently launched a major advertising campaign around its “Good to Know” guides to online safety and privacy. Google’s password advice has appeared on billboards in the London underground and a full-page ad in The Economist. Their example of a “very strong password” is ‘2bon2btitq’, taken fro…