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The increasing popularity of ad blockers is an existential threat to companies like Google that make the majority of their revenue from selling ads.

Consumer use of ad blockers is on the rise, and new ad-blocking tools — including a new ad-blocking browser and a carrier-backed plan to block ads right at the source (or the data centers) before they even reach a customer’s smartphone — have been announced in recent months.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-larry-page-on-ad-blockers-2015-6
Posted by Dont Mine on Me

“We believe that people have a fundamental right to privacy. The American people demands it, the constitution demands it, morality demands it.”- Tim Cook, Apple CEO

As reported by TechCrunch, Cook’s opening reiterated the peoples’ right to privacy:
“Like many of you, we at Apple reject the idea that our customers should have to make tradeoffs between privacy and security,” Cook opened. “We can, and we must provide both in equal measure. We believe that people have a fundamental right to privacy. The American people demands it, the constitution demands it, morality demands it.”
Read more: http://www.imore.com/tim-cook-emphasizes-importance-consumer-privacy-awards-dinner
Posted by Dont Mine on Me

There is something deeply unsettling about giving the huge data collection company unfettered access to nearly every photo I’ve ever taken!

A lot of people in the technology world are raving about Google’s new photo service, which the search giant unveiled to much fanfare at its annual developer’s conference in San Francisco on Thursday.
But I’m not that excited about using it.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-photos-privacy-2015-5
Posted by Dont Mine on Me

ANOTHER MAJOR DATA BREACH!
This time it’s the IRS and the target is your tax refund!

The FBI says it’s begun an investigation into the theft of personal tax information of more than 100,000 taxpayers from an Internal Revenue Service website.
The FBI said Thursday that agents were “working to determine the nature and scope of this matter.” The agency is advising individuals it’s contacted to take steps to safeguard their personal information.
Read more: http://mobile.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/28/us/politics/ap-us-irs-breach.html
Posted by Dont Mine on Me

A whopping 500 million Android devices may be at risk, according to a study by University of Cambridge researchers Laurent Simon and Ross Anderson.

Bad news for people who have sold or given away their Android old phones: Google’s own factory reset likely didn’t remove all of their personal data and account-login information. A whopping 500 million Android devices may be at risk, according to a study by University of Cambridge researchers Laurent Simon and Ross Anderson.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/05/28/android-factory-reset-leaves-personal-data-on-phone/
Posted by Dont Mine on Me

Parents are creating a large digital footprint for their child from a young age, and the right PRIVACY settings are important if you want to stay in control!

Most parents (53%) use Facebook to share images of their children, followed by Instagram (14%) and Twitter (12%).
‘Despite 70% of parents claiming their main gadget for taking photos was a smartphone, fewer than half (49%) were aware that location data showing where photos were taken could be stored,’ said the pollsters.
‘Furthermore, parents are in the dark about who has the rights to images being posted online, as 39% believe they own sole rights to images posted on Facebook and 17% think the same for Instagram.
Read more at http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/photo-news/warning-shot-fired-over-child-photo-privacy-52153
Posted by Dont Mine on Me

The Internet is the place where nothing goes to die!
We agree, and are adding this caveat: Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want hanging in an art gallery.

The Internet is the place where nothing goes to die.
Those embarrassing photos of your high school dance you marked “private” on Facebook? The drunk Instagram posts? The NSFW snapchats? If you use social media, you’ve probably heard a warning akin to “don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your employer (or future employer) to see.”
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/05/25/a-reminder-that-your-instagram-photos-arent-really-yours-someone-else-can-sell-them-for-90000/
Posted by Dont Mine on Me

We have an obligation to use technology for good and we can do that if we adopt the right policies and the right framework for making those policies!

My name is Libby Schaaf. I am the mayor of my hometown, Oakland, California. I just took office this January. I am very passionate about my city. I’m passionate about civil rights, civil liberties and technology. I’m passionate about all these things, and I really want to use technology responsibly, for good, and I can use everyone’s help in figuring out the way to do that.
Read more: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/05/how-one-mayor-struggles-with-balancing-privacy-and-surveillance/
Posted by Dont Mine on Me

When those devices are aimed specifically at children, then for many this will step over the creepy line!

Google’s R&D team has looked into making internet-connected toys that control smart home appliances.
The firm has published a patent that describes devices that would turn their heads towards users and listen to what they were saying, before sending commands to remote computer servers.
The three-year old patent was spotted recently by the legal technology firm SmartUp.
It described the proposal as “one of Google’s creepiest patents yet”.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32843518
Posted by Dont Mine on Me

While stating that they “completely agree that the global digital divide should be closed” the digital rights campaigners question “whether this is the right way to do it.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has joined criticism of Facebook’s Internet.org project, saying it runs “a real risk” of turning the few websites that Zuck & Co. select, “including, of course, Facebook itself”, into a “ghetto” for poor internet users – instead of being a stepping stone to the full WWW.
Read more: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/19/eff_says_internetorg_not_neutral_not_secure_not_the_internet/
Posted by Dont Mine on Me