So, Google is integrating its websites more. As a result, some privacy settings will apply network-wide, and one site will be able to use data from another site. People are flipping out, naturally. People have been giving Google this data for ages. People have known that Google was watching them, and yet they chose to keep using Google and in fact use one account for many Google services.
Note that the new policy changes nothing about what Google already knew about you. It just changes what certain Google sites will use about you. As Marsha Blackburn and other members of Congress begin to look into it though, Google isn’t helping its case by pleading that it’s alright because certain users are excluded, which just furthers the premise that there’s something wrong with it.
But ultimately, you’re in control of what you do online. Personal responsibility: it’s not just for breakfast anymore.
I feel vindicated though in having about a dozen Google accounts for the limited times I had use for their services, usual in the course of helping somebody else. Different accounts for different uses and different sites. It was never hard. You just had to do it. Oh, and not use their email.
Once again, the real LightSquared issue isn’t even LightSquared. This is about the Obama administration. the actual decision is irrelevant at this point and Chuck Grassley will keep fighting for process transparency.
The SOPA battle didn’t end with defeating SOPA. We still need to solve the problem of foreign free riders. That’s why Steve Forbes joins those taking a look at the OPEN Act.
I’m just one guy, but it wasn’t hard for me to figure out why this Washington Post story is garbage. In the course of making the case against Net Neutrality, by pointing out that we need wireless providers to be able to innovate and expand, and get those innovations and expansions paid for, the WaPo claims that Apple’s Siri would overload wireless networks.
That never made sense, though, and of course it’s not true. Siri’s sending in a few seconds of audio, and getting back some text, then maybe doing a web search. That’s not going to kill a network. It’s not even video.
The problems are spectrum (we need more of it) and regulation (we need less of it). Get government out of the way, and we’ll allow incentives to build bigger, better networks. Unless the Roaming regulations which actually encouraged Sprint to reduce its network coverage, free riding on competitors’ networks, reducing total capacity and harming rural users.
So again, one of the better things we can do is whip the FCC into shape by restricting its freedom to do bad things. No more picking winners and losers.
California coughs up a million bucks after losing its video game censorship case. Watch people cheer, until they remember the ESA was pro-SOPA.
Twitter wants to censor EuroNazis and probably Chinese users. Blaming Twitter for this is dumb. But then again, Anonymous and other radicals pitching a fit about this don’t intend to actually stand up to Red China or the EuroSocialists who censor their people online. Blaming Americans is the easier route, so naturally they take it.
It’s easy to talk about turning over Facebook and others accounts after people die, but in the case of all free online accounts, how do you prove that the deceased actually “owned” that account? With most property there is a paper trail, a transaction, or something that ties the owner to the property. But free online accounts, who do they really “belong” to? And how do you prove it, without a paper trail?
Moe Lane
PG DeFreese
Victoria Coates
Daniel Horowitz
Dan Spencer
Sen Grassley will have a much bigger stick
deanfromohio Saturday, January 28th at 9:36AM EST (link)to beat the FCC come January 2013. Subpoenas galore!
I've long been a believer that Google is a bigger brother
trutexan Saturday, January 28th at 10:37AM EST (link)than Big Brother. I stopped using their toolbar years ago when I noticed ads were targeted toward me. Then I stopped using their search engine and have never had a gmail account. Now I will not own an Android phone. I do adore my Nook e-reader (Android OS) but they say their ebooks are supposedly not included in this intrusion. That remains to be seen but I’m not too sure how much of my personal info they’d glean from that device as long as I don’t load photos or other info.
Spooky.
I was anti-Obama before it was cool.
The market seems to be indicating that Google's way is 'the wave of the future'....
Dave_A (Diary) Sunday, January 29th at 5:32AM EST (link)Most ‘non-political’ type people would rather have convenience & low prices than absolute privacy.
When intrusions become disruptive or harmful to folks computers – such as with ‘adware’ or ‘spyware’ software – folks get upset…
However, for most, the convenience of single-sign-on & the fact that most of Google’s services are either free or almost-free is more important than any concern over being tracked around the internet for marketing purposes.
Most of the privacy you have when not dealing with the government exists because it’s either not profitable to intrude upon it – in some cases because of a known adverse reaction, and in other cases because collecting whatever information is in question requires too much effort/cost for the potential profit.
The more advanced technology gets, the more presently-non-collected-info businesses will be able to easily collect on their customers & partners. And most people will gladly provide said information in order to reduce the price or the work involved in obtaining services from said businesses.
Privacy will become… expensive…
Formerly known as dcacklam – they finally fixed my access to the ‘profile’ page
Is there a guide for alternative options to various google services?
Common_Cents (Diary) Saturday, January 28th at 10:51AM EST (link)I’ll have to take a look. Also have a droid phone and need to look at any settings I can change for the max privacy.
Obama=Golfer in Chief, Leading from,
behind, the Back Nine.Leaders don’t create movements. Movements create leaders. Get involved. Your future depends on it.
Govt “invests” YOUR tax money for POLITICAL return rather than economic return.
Personally, I think Twitter's actions are aimed more at the US than at Europe and China.
Dave_A (Diary) Sunday, January 29th at 2:04AM EST (link)Since their statement speaks of the ability to retroactively remove ‘prohibited’ content when requested, but still show the rest of the world.
The key there being ‘retroactively’ – it’s not an automated filter.
In a world where something like SOPA may still become law, Twitter has a need to have something ‘like this’ ready.
Because if SOPA had passed (or if a new version with similar provisions does) piracy will be pushed off of dedicated sites (like thepiratebay.org), and onto ‘common carrier’ sites like Twitter & google.
The protocol used for most online piracy (bittorrent) doesn’t require a place to ‘park’ the files – at it’s current level of development, all someone who wants pirated content has to do, is know a short alphanumeric code that matches up to the desired content. Presently, this information is distributed by various foreign-hosted torrent-search sites, such as pirate bay.
But if those sites end up blocked by a SOPA-type law, it’s quite possible that pirates will begin using twitter to pass along this information… So they’re prepared…
After all, they have pretty much no reason to change their reputation as a political dissident’s protest-organizing tool – it helps them plenty, and the various 3rd-world countries that don’t like it really can’t keep up.
However, getting in trouble with US authorities over copyright is a bigger concern – and the thought of becoming the next mecca for pirates doesn’t bring with it the same sort of attention as being the voice of the 3rd-world’s oppressed…
So they did… What they did…
Formerly known as dcacklam – they finally fixed my access to the ‘profile’ page
That's not how SOPA worked (nt)
Neil Stevens (Diary) Sunday, January 29th at 4:18AM EST (link).
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“I rejoice that America has resisted.” – William Pitt, the Elder
Actually I take that back
Neil Stevens (Diary) Sunday, January 29th at 4:20AM EST (link)Who knows how broadly Holder might have tried?
But still no, this has been in the works a while. It’s a refinement of an existing procedure. It’s not new. So it’s unlikely to be related to SOPA just because that’s what the hot issue was.
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“I rejoice that America has resisted.” – William Pitt, the Elder
Obama's ACTA response / push
fpete13527 (Diary) Sunday, January 29th at 9:49PM EST (link)Neil, is it accurate that Obama is now attempting to override Congress, again, and childishly push anti-pirating (internet censorship) through European and International law via the ACTA (Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement)?
What is your take on that?
Thanks for all the continuing great work you do.
I've just started getting a whiff of that
Neil Stevens (Diary) Monday, January 30th at 12:18PM EST (link)Certainly possible.
On the other hand, an agreement like ACTA could make an initiative like SOPA moot.
If we enlist other countries in enforcing their own versions of our DMCA, then the foreign infringer problem will be fixed.
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“I rejoice that America has resisted.” – William Pitt, the Elder
Several points
synergist777 Wednesday, February 1st at 11:13AM EST (link)Google: Deleting cookies is also a good idea with advertisers. Web beacons still abound, and a current trend seems to be that advertising services like doubleclick seem to be working with the advertisers to send you directed ads on other sites. That and multiple accounts will keep you going until the next stage (when advertisers start using IP addresses, although most users still have dynamic IP).
Lightsquared: Good point about it really being about government power; I’ve been saying the same thing about Obamacare from day one, although people are being distracted from the real issue in droves.
Twitter: As long as China does not stop (and apparently encourages) web criminals, Internet security people are going to continue to treat users from China as guilty until proven innocent. I know I do. Russia, to a lesser extent. There are even sites that contain cut and paste .htaccess codes for blocking all Chinese domains.
Siri: I remember back in the late 90′s predictions that college kids sending video messages home would strangle the Internet. Well, I also remember when it was said that phone lines couldn’t handle more than 1200 baud. There are certainly physical limits to data transmission, but I do not believe they have been reached yet. Such theoretical limits are the basis on which the FCC is trying to take over power that rightfully should be handled by the FTC. Speaking of which…
Net Neutrality: If anything, shouldn’t that be handled by existing anti-trust laws? It seems to hinge on whether or not ISP’s can have common carrier status. Either they can, giving the FCC power to regulate those who take it, or they can’t, giving the FTC power to exert anti-trust regulation (the latter apparently being favored by House Republicans). At least that would, in theory, limit government interference to actual abuses rather than give it arbitrary, “We’ll stop it because we don’t happen to personally like it” power to petty bureaucrats. Of course, we should also accept that when the judiciary backs the bureaucracy, there is little we can do without taking on great personal risk (remember: civil disobedience is only a valid defense from criminal charges if done for a left-wing cause).