YouTube could reveal a lot about you
Much to the annoyance of European privacy regulators, Google has long argued that IP addresses do not constitute personal information. Not surprisingly, Google has pressed this position forcefully.
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What’s your comfort level online?
A recent UK study on social networks found that many users aren’t that concerned about posting personal information online because the whole point of social network sites is to share details about yourself so you can link up with other people and communicate. This point of view is not surprising because it’s human nature to focus on the benefits and not think through all the possible consequences. Also, people’s comfort level online is directly related to assumptions they make about risk.
Read moreA word on copyright reform
Last week, after months of speculation from critics and the media, the Minister of Industry unveiled new amendments to Canada’s intellectual property law, the Copyright Act. Previous attempts to revamp the legislation in 2005 dropped off the radar when Parliament went into election mode. This largely extinguished public debate of the bill, which Canada’s privacy champions had spoken out against. At the time, the privacy commissioners of Canada, Ontario and British Columbia all expressed similar concern over the government’s direction.
Read morePrivacy Issues Discussed At MESH
Some of us from the Office attended the MESH Conference in Toronto last month, jumping at the chance to hear a number of thought leaders and innovators in media, technology and society. Privacy, data protection and reputation management were subjects discussed in several of the sessions, but two video clips are available that demonstrate how online users can have wildly different approaches to privacy and the protection of personal information.
Read moreLolcatz support net neutrality
Two pictures taken during a Net Neutrality rally on Parliament Hill last week.
Read moreDo you enjoy being watched?
The author of a new article on surveillance in The Walrus thinks you do. Hal Niedzviecki says that while the thought of being monitored used to disturb us (think George Orwell and Nineteen Eighty-Four), cameras and other surveillance techniques are so prevalent today that we’ve stopped noticing them. And, he says, when we do notice we don’t really care (case in point: when it was announced that 10,000 cameras would be installed in Toronto’s subways, streetcars and buses, he asserts that citizens “shrugged and went about their business”).
Read moreMore questions for Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer
We recently referenced this Q&A in the Times Online with Facebook’s chief privacy officer. Privacy guru Michael Zimmer pokes fun at the questions posed by the interviewer in a recent blog post and comes up with what he calls “a real set of questions” for the chief privacy officer at Facebook. Some samples:
Read moreOfcom research on youth and social networking
The Office of Communications in the U.K. has just released a research report on young peoples’ use of social networking sites. Among their findings:
Read moreIs it possible to hide in plain sight?
Last month, a correspondent with Popular Science conducted his own privacy experiment — to be as anonymous as possible while still living a normal life. His conclusion? That it’s nearly impossible.
Read moreA flaw in Facebook’s new privacy controls
This week, Facebook launched new privacy control upgrades and, for the most part, the news reports have been positive.
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