Internet Safety & Privacy

Public Wifi Usage Survey conducted by Identity Theft Resource Center

Public Wifi Usage Survey conducted by Identity Theft Resource Center

Currently, consumers are increasingly becoming dependent on having access to the Internet at all times. Whether it is a laptop, Smartphone or tablet, people feel the need to stay connected. One tool which has made that much easier for consumers is WiFi and it has now become As a result, WiFi is now commonplace in…

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Facebook Creates Public Email Address to Report Phishing

Facebook Creates Public Email Address to Report Phishing

Facebook, being the online monolith that it is, is a frequent target for hackers, phishers and all sorts of online scammers. So it is that finally, perhaps belatedly, the site has created a public email address for its users to report phishing: phish@fb.com. Took you long enough, Zuckerberg! 🙂 A note posted on the Facebook…

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Facebook Slammed For Allowing Racist Page to Exist, Then Backpedals

Facebook Slammed For Allowing Racist Page to Exist, Then Backpedals

The creators of a racist Aboriginal Memes Facebook page in Australia have removed all content from the site after facing relentless public pressure and a pending investigation from the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Facebook refused to take the page down, saying in a statement that it was “not able to confirm that the specific…

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Australia Rules that Brands are Responsible For User Comments on Facebook Pages

Australia Rules that Brands are Responsible For User Comments on Facebook Pages

Australia’s Advertising Standards Bureau has declared that page administrators are responsible for the contents of all page comments. Have you seen Internet comment boards? That’s a dangerous thing to be responsible for. The ASB received complaints about comments on Smirnoff Australia’s Facebook page that were vulgar, obscene, promoted excessive drinking (On a Smirnoff page? Get…

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Facebook Tells Court that “Likes” are Protected by First Amendment

Facebook Tells Court that “Likes” are Protected by First Amendment

In a ruling last spring, U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled in a case that Facebook “Likes” were not protected by the First Amendment. The case involved six employees of the Sheriff’s office in Hampton, Virginia, who were fired for liking the Facebook page of the Sheriff’s electoral opponent. Facebook, normally derided for invading its…

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“Social Protection” App Adds Additional Privacy Controls for your Facebook Photos

“Social Protection” App Adds Additional Privacy Controls for your Facebook Photos

If you love Facebook-stalking through old photo albums on the site, you might be in for a surprise in a few weeks. McAfee and Intel are releasing a new Facebook application that will add additional privacy layers for Facebook photos. The app, McAfee Social Protection, will be available as a browser plug-in for Internet Explorer,…

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Norway Investigating Facebook’s Facial Recognition Software

Norway Investigating Facebook’s Facial Recognition Software

Europeans are a few years ahead of us Americans when it comes to concerns over online privacy. While there have been some rumbles from American watchdog groups about Facebook and its opaque privacy policies, it hasn’t exactly been a national discussion. Not true in Norway, where the Norwegian Data Protection Agency began a probe last…

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11 Tips to Go Private Online

11 Tips to Go Private Online

If you’ve got only a few minutes, you can drastically improve your Internet privacy with these 11 tips.  Why do just 10 when you can go to 11? 1.  Be careful on social networks.    Almost everything you say and do on social networks is public by default.  Post with caution or a pseudonym. Facebook…

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Democratic Campaign Tool Powered by Facebook Data Could Turn Friends into Frenemies

Democratic Campaign Tool Powered by Facebook Data Could Turn Friends into Frenemies

Here is another reason why you should limit what personal data can be accessed by Facebook applications your friends use. A Democratic activist group called NGP VAN has developed a Facebook tool that can be used to match up your privately shared data with your voting record and allow Democratic campaigners to target you for…

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Over 14 Million Facebook Accounts Used to Spread Scams and Spam

Over 14 Million Facebook Accounts Used to Spread Scams and Spam

Facebook filed new documents with the SEC this week that detail some interesting statistics about its user base. Many people might be surprised to discover that 8.7 percent of all Facebook accounts are fake, duplicates or used for malicious purposes. This breaks down to 83 million accounts based on the stated user based of 955…

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