As Naked As Possible

FBI Wants Access To Social Networks And E-mail Providers

VATOR NEWS - May 6 - The FBI is already allowed to tap any communications system they want, be it your cell phone or broadband network. Now the FBI general counsel's office is proposing a new law that would require that social networks and web communication companies allow that their products be wiretap friendly. The FBI reportedly met with Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Facebook, requesting backdoors into those social networks and software companies. The FBI also met with the White House and several U.S. Senators to discuss their proposal. A company would only have to comply with the law when it reaches a certain minimum of users.

by Steven Loeb
See full article at Vator News

Are We Safe Online? - Infographic

ANAP - Mar 29 - OnlineMarketingDegree.com created this interesting infographic about online privacy. See the infographic here.

Women Are Getting More Privacy Savvy On Social Media

ASSOCIATED PRESS - Feb 24 - Americans are getting more privacy-savvy on social networks, a new report released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. 44% of respondents said in 2011 that they deleted comments from their profile on a social networks. Only 36% said the same thing in 2009. Women are much more likely than men to restrict their profiles. 67% of women set their profiles so that only their “friends” can see it. Only 48% of men did the same. Younger people were just as likely to use privacy controls as older people. 62% of teens and 58% of adults restricted access to their profiles to friends only.

See full article at Kansas City

Teachers Warned Over Facebook And Twitter Use

BBC.CO.UK - Jan 2 - Scottish teachers are being warned that their use of social networking sites could put their careers at risk. The Scottish Secondary Teachers Association believes teachers can reveal too much personal information. The union also fears they could become overly familiar with pupils. Jim Docherty, assistant secretary of the SSTA, told BBC Scotland that teachers should follow his advice: "First thing is don't bother telling anybody else about your social life. Secondly, never make any comment about your work, about your employer, about teaching issues in general. There is always a possibility it will be misinterpreted."

See full article at BBC.co.uk

Mark Brooks: Clearly the asst secretary is not comfortable with social media. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the developed world IS. Teachers need training on how to use social media, not banning from it! The problem with Computer Mediated Communication is that kids don't hold their punches, and then they're judged based on their silliness. But teachers should toughen up, and not crumble so readily, or respond to silliness like the kids they're role models to.  

Infographic: 6 Media Giants Control 90% Of Content

RAGAN.COM - Dec 22 - The vast majority of media we consume—on TV, in the theater, on the Web, and in print—is owned by six media companies: GE, News Corp., Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS. Those 6 media giants now control 90% of what we read, watch, or listen to.

For Web’s New Wave, Sharing Details Is The Point

NY TIMES (Front page) - Apr 23 - People are becoming more relaxed about privacy, having come to recognize that publicizing little pieces of information about themselves can result in serendipitous conversations. Mr. Brooks, a 38-year-old consultant for online dating sites, publishes his travel schedule on Dopplr. His DNA profile is available on 23andMe. And onBlippy, he makes public everything he spends with his Chase Mastercard, along with his spending at Netflix, iTunes and Amazon.com. “It’s very important to me to push out my character and hopefully my good reputation as far as possible, and that means being open,” he said, dismissing any privacy concerns by adding, “I simply have nothing to hide.” Blippy, which opened last fall, was the first site to introduce the notion of publishing credit card and other purchases. Last month it attracted ~125,000 visitors and closed an investment round of $11M from venture capitalists. “Ten years ago, people were afraid to buy stuff online. Now they’re sharing everything they buy,” said Barry Borsboom, a student at Leiden University in the Netherlands, who this year created a site called Please Rob Me. The site collected and published Foursquare updates that indicated when people were out socializing and therefore away from their homes. FULL ARTICLE @ NY TIMES. Also in Argentinas LA NACION, SJ MERCURY NEWS,DENVER POST.