privacy Archives - Memeburn

Twitter knows an awful lot about you, it reveals in new privacy policy
By Andy Walker: Editor on 19 May, 2017
Tweet often? If so, there's a fat chance that Twitter knows an awful lot about you, your interests and even your lofty aspirations. This revelation comes after the company announced an upcoming revision to its privacy policy, which allows it to siphon more data about you from the web, and gives users more agency in their privacy options. If you're a mobile app user, you would've seen a pop up notifying you about this change. Heading to Twitter's blog though, the company outlined a more granular point-form summary of the changes heading to the platform in the coming weeks. In case you didn't...
Netflix’s Hot Girls Wanted ‘outs’ sex workers sans permission
By Julia Breakey on 24 April, 2017
Netflix's latest documentary series on the porn industry, Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On, has been accused of using footage of cam girls without their knowledge or consent. Twitter user @_autumnkayy reportedly direct messaged the film's official Twitter account after noticing her cam girl footage in the show. She was hit back with a somewhat patronising response about fair use. @AspenFoxxx@hotgirlswanted Not even an apology for the possibility of outting us. pic.twitter.com/v5SBvHUxVN — △⃒⃘McGanjagall (@_autumnkayy) April 22, 2017 The series is a six-part anthology series from the creators of the 2015 documentary Hot Girls Wanted. It is being marketed as an insight into the taboo work of sex workers. "This unflinchingly...

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Personal information in the age of social media
By Gil Sperling on 2 February, 2017
The global reaction to WhatsApp’s August 2016 announcement, in which the “updating” of its terms and privacy policy was revealed, has been interesting. This update, essentially, allows for the sharing of user information between WhatsApp and its owner of roughly two years, Facebook. The reaction has been largely alarmist. The Guardian, Independent, and The Telegraph warn users to opt out of the sharing of information between the two platforms. TechCrunch takes a more balanced approach, outlining the European legislative response to the announcement, and quoting the UK’s information commissioner Elizabeth Denham. According to Denham: “There’s a lot of anger out there....
Spotted: Mark Zuckerberg covers up MacBook webcam with tape?
By Hadlee Simons on 22 June, 2016
Thanks to Edward Snowden, we know that the US government has sophisticated ways of spying on people through their gadgets. We also know that Facebook is no stranger to veering on the wrong side of the privacy line. So when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a photo to celebrate Instagram's 500 million user milestone, people were rather surprised to see what was done to a nearby MacBook... In case you can't make it out, the MacBook's web camera is taped up, as Twitter user Chris Olson first pointed out. 3 things about this photo of Zuck: Camera covered with tape Mic jack covered with tape Email client is...

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WhatsApp rolls out full end-to-end encryption to its billion users
By Myolisi Sikupela: Staff Reporter on 6 April, 2016
WhatsApp, the Facebook owned instant chat platform, is rolling out its full end-to-end encryption, ensuring that each message, photo, video, file, voice message, group chats and voice calls user's send are encrypted. The encryption is by default, given the users chatting are using the latest version of the app. WhatsApp states that in the years to come, people's digital information and communication will be far more vulnerable to attacks and the only way to protect users is end-to-end encryption. Read more: Always put the user at the centre of your security strategy The company has been working on the encryption...

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Oculus can freely use your content, tracks you while using Rift
By Hadlee Simons on 5 April, 2016
Oculus is slowly but steadily sending Rift headsets out to early adopters, but they might want to read the terms of service before jumping in. Most concerning perhaps, is that the Facebook-owned company is free to utilise your user-generated content in any way it sees fit. "By submitting User Content through the Services, you grant Oculus a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual (i.e. lasting forever), non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free and fully sublicensable (i.e. we can grant this right to others) right to use, copy, display, store, adapt, publicly perform and distribute such User Content in connection with the Services," reads the relevant excerpt. "You irrevocably...
Governments want your data badly, Twitter says requests have increased 52%
By Myolisi Sikupela: Staff Reporter on 12 August, 2015
That government wants your data is by no means a secret. But it's a little disturbing that its use of public social networks to get this data is on the rise . In its latest transparency report, Twitter says that the number of request from government for user data has increased to 52% during the first half of 2015. Jeremy Kessel, Twitter’s Senior Manager of Global Legal Policy, notes that this is the biggest increase between reporting periods Twitter has ever seen. Twitter says that from January to June this year, 56% of all worldwide requests for account information...

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Twitter introduces new data dashboard to help you monitor and manage your account
By Myolisi Sikupela: Staff Reporter on 16 July, 2015
Twitter, of late, has been beset with problems. First its CEO left and then the rumours that Twitter might be bought reared their ugly head again, affecting its share price. Something is certainly amiss. In the interim, Twitter is getting on with it, dusting itself off, and introducing new features to the platform. The latest one is the Twitter data dashboard, introduced yesterday. The company says that this is a new tool to help users to monitor and manage their accounts. Much of the latest changes by Twitter have been bland and something huge is needed and this, as...
Google refreshes, reinforces its user privacy and security settings
By Myolisi Sikupela: Staff Reporter on 2 June, 2015
Google has rolled out two improvements to its privacy and security tools in a bid to give users more flexible options. There's now a new hub for managing Google settings called My Account and a new site that answers important questions about privacy and security on Google. My Account also works for those who may not have a Google account. The company says that people feel that they are not in charge of the privacy settings. “Everyday, we make choices that affect our privacy and security online. Most people, however, don’t feel they have the right level of control to make these...

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Gone baby gone: Google receives 12k ‘removal requests’ in 48 hours
By Steven Norris on 2 June, 2014
Privacy settings, a hot-button topic many websites do their best to avoid, get the royal treatment from Google as a new "right to be forgotten" form launched earlier this week for EU Google users. Those who value their secrecy can fill in the form to have results which are "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were processed," removed if and when Google flips the approve switch. Google launched the option late last week and in a single day, more than 12 000 requests were processed, reports news network ABC. The form follows an...
More control: Facebook will now let you login to apps anonymously
By Lauren Granger on 2 May, 2014
Keen to try out new apps, but a bit hesitant about allowing them to use your Facebook details? That may no longer be an issue -- Facebook's making some privacy changes. The social media giant announced at its F8 developer conference that it would be changing how it manages logins from third party apps. Specifically, it's introducing anonymous logins, and giving users more control over what they want to share when they opt to sign up with Facebook instead of creating custom usernames and passwords for every app. Anonymous logins Previously, if you used your Facebook account to access apps like Flipboard...

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Big data is the superhero for your digital security woes [RSA conf]
By Mich Atagana on 29 October, 2013
There has never been a more dangerous time to be online: there are threats from every corner and attackers are getting more sophisticated. With data hopping from device to device via the cloud, the way we do security must change. This is the world of big data and where trust and privacy is becoming more vulnerable. Art Coviello the Executive Chairman of RSA (the security division of EMC) believes the way security is currently tackled must change if today's society is to survive the changing world of technology. He argues that the security industry needs a scalable ecosystem for sharing...

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The future of online privacy? Most of us aren’t all that bothered
By Paul Armstrong on 24 October, 2013
Meabh Quoirin, managing director of Future Foundation closed the annual Future Foundation conference with an in-depth look at where privacy and anonymity on the web are headed to in the next few years. New data presented at the conference suggests that only a vocal few percent of people are significantly worried about privacy. Indeed most are actually happy -- or perhaps nonchalant -- to what data companies and agencies want to have (or target them by). Quoirin went on to talk about recent Pew data that shows how we're hiding some aspects of ourselves from those closest to us, let...

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Half of top mobile apps don’t offer privacy policies prior to download
By Mich Atagana on 20 August, 2013
More than a quarter of the top 100 free mobile apps don’t have a privacy policy. That's according to MEF, the global community for mobile content and commerce. With online privacy emerging as a focal issue in the last few months, MEF has published analysis into how the top 100 free mobile apps inform consumers about their use of personal data. More than a quarter (28%) of the top 100 apps available from the App Store and Google Play still don’t have a privacy policy. As well as other areas for improvement, mobile apps can present privacy information in a...

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Facebook users to vote on whether they get to vote on social network changes
By Stuart Thomas on 27 November, 2012
More than 18 000 people have commented on Facebook's proposed changes to its governing documents. That enough to trigger a vote on the proposed changes. The vote comes into play as the electronic privacy information centre (EPIC), along with other privacy groups, has asked the social network to withdraw some its proposed changes. These include sharing its data with that of Instagram and removing the ability to vote on the proposed changes. When Facebook announced the proposed changes last week, it said it was proposing scrapping the ability for people to vote on the changes, because the voting system...

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