Five days ago I posted an article about Facebook new privacy settings flaws. I just read a post on EON about some Vancouver techie who hacked into Facebook and then informed them privately of their security leak. Good  way to find yourself a job 

“Byron Ng, a computer technician revealed that it was possible to access private files that were supposed to be secure on Facebook. Mr. Ng is a computer technician who lives and works in Vancouver B.C. He went looking for security flaws when Facebook announced recently that it was free from security flaws.”[EON]

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Facebook came up with new privacy settings yesterday. The gesture received positive coverage from the mainstream media . But as Chris Soghoian, member of the Cnet’s blog network puts it, “the praise is perhaps not so deserving”. Here is more about it:

“The new privacy settings allow users to customize which friends can view specific details in their own profile. Users can lock down specific bits of information to their friends, friends of friends, or even particular individuals.

Facebook’s new privacy controls
There is, however, a significant design flaw present in this new feature. Facebook users can select which types of strangers can view their profile. That is, a student at Stanford University can decide to allow other undergrads to view their profile, while specifically forbidding staff and professors who have not been made a friend from viewing it.” [CNET]

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While Valleywag has concerns about Facebook employees violating users’ privacy, the Office of the Privacy Commisioner of Canada says on its blog that Facebook users have a tendency of handing out too much personal information . Is that you?

ValleyWag says that your privacy is an illusion:

“The first part is simply risible. Facebook, as a company, may have a policy that employees should respect user privacy. But some Facebook employees obviously do not follow that policy, and Facebook appears to have no effective way of stopping them. “[VALLEYWAG]

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is concerned about identity thieves on Facebook:

“Last year, IT security firm Sophos ran an experiment on Facebook to demonstrate just how willing people were to hand over their information to potential ID thieves. They created a fake profile page on Facebook for a small green plastic frog and sent out 200 friend requests to other Facebook users. Eighty-two of those people responded, and in doing so, divulged personal information like their email address, birthdate, workplace or school location, and phone number - all useful details for the aspiring identity thief.”[privcom]

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The Canada’s Privacy Commissioner wants the public to create privacy t-shirts. Winners will not be remunerated. Her job is to see that your privacy rights are protected. Obviously, it does not includes creators’ right to be paid for their art.

“This Web 2.0 thing is all about collaboration, so here’s what we’re asking of you, dear readers. We want your help in creating  T-shirts we plan to give away at conferences and workshops. We want these T-shirts to be privacy-themed, attractive, and witty.”[privcom]

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As a French Canadian I have similarities with my French cousins. I think that private life is something that should be …. private. I think that a politician who requests the services of a prostitute is not a scandal per se. It’s a private matter. What is scandalous is that the man in question, Governor Spitzer, was prosecuting people involved in prostitution circles with no mercy. However, the point of this post is that I found an interesting article authored by George Dvorsky saying that Spitzer is not responsible. We should cut him (Spitzer) some slack. Why? Because biology made him do it.

“Indeed, one of the most surprising discoveries of the past two decades has been the extent of sexual infidelity – what scientists call extra-pair copulations. As Barash has noted, “It’s clear that social monogamy — physical association and child rearing between a male and a female — and sexual monogamy are very different things. The former is common; the latter is rare.”Prior to the onset of the monogamous imposition, men of wealth, status and power typically acquired multiple wives and partners. Well over a century ago, a politician like Spitzer would have likely had a mistress and no one would have questioned it. Today, a successful male is likely to have a wife and a girlfriend on the side (along with the hope of not getting caught).”[Sentient Developments] 

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Boingboing has an interesting post about Disney’s fingerprint authentication devices. Is Disney training your kids to live in a police state? Epcot centre’s turnstiles are equipped with fingerprint authentication devices. Fingerprint authentication refers to the automated method of verifying a match between two human fingerprints. Fingerprints are one of many forms of biometrics used to identify an individual and verify their identity.

Cory at boingboing says,

“The readers aren’t very effective at stopping admission cheats. You can choose not to register your fingertip, and to use photo ID for admission instead (I’m thinking of having a random piece of photo identification made with the words “OFFICIAL BOGUS SECURITY IDENTIFICATION FOR HOTELS, THEME PARKS AND OTHER JUNIOR G-MEN” printed on it). So it would be very easy to share your pass: the person named on the pass enters with his ID, and the person with whom he’s sharing the card uses a fingertip — you could visit with your sister’s family and half of you could use the tickets in the morning while the other half hung around the pool and relaxed, then switch at lunch: the morning crew uses fingertip, the afternoon uses ID.”[boingboing]

Technorati Tags: disney, privacy, police state

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In the U.S EPIC filed a complaint because some companies are promoting products such as spyware to spy on others individuals such as YOU. Anyone can purchase some of these software items and download them in Canada.

“EPIC’s Domestic Violence and Privacy Project filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against several purveyors of stalker spyware. Stalker spyware products are over the counter surveillance technologies sold for individuals to spy on other individuals. The complaint alleges that these companies engage in unfair and deceptive practices by: (1) promoting illegal surveillance; (2) promoting “Trojan Horse” email attacks; and (3) failing to warn their costumers of legal dangers of misuse of amateur spyware. The FTC is asked to investigate these companies, stop these practices, and seek compensation for victims.” [Complaint in PDF format] [EPIC]

Technorati Tags: spyware, privacy

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A Day in the Life Blog says that the new feature of Google Maps named Street Views raises privacy and information security questions. On the Google Street View Map below you can virtually drive down the street and see everything. Just click on the right arrows to see what happens.

The view below is at  1768 SW Broadway in Portland Oregon. It’s just near the Portland State University.

View Larger Map

Technorati Tags: google maps, google street views, privacy

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Kevin at Wired Threat Level Blog posted that an anonymous American carrier maintains a DS-3 line to a mysterious facility in Quantico, Virginia, according to a computer security expert who worked for the company as a contractor in 2003. Customer voice calls, data packets and billing records are all allegedly exposed.DS3 product is designed to handle the most bandwidth-intensive applications. A DS3 (or T3) is a digital communications link that supports data transmission rates of about 43-45Mbps.  Here’s a quote from Kevin’s post: 

“What I thought was alarming is how this carrier ended up essentially allowing a third party outside their organization to have unfettered access to their environment,” Babak Pasdar, CTO of New Jersey-based IGXglobal told Threat Level. “I wanted to put some access controls around it; they vehemently denied it. And when I wanted to put some logging around it, they denied that.”Pasdar won’t name the wireless carrier in question, but his claims are nearly identical to unsourced allegations made in a federal lawsuit filed in 2006 against four phone companies and the U.S. government for alleged privacy violations. That suit names Verizon Wireless as the culprit.  [Wired] 

Technorati Tags: spooks, privacy

 

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