This Video Attack of Google’s (and Eric Schmidt) Stance On Privacy Aired On A Jumbotron In Times Square [Google]
In the video, Eric Schmidt is caricatured as a creepy ice cream salesman who offers free Google ice cream in exchange for a full body scan. It was funded by ConsumerWatchdog and aired on a jumbotron in Times Square. More
A Judge With Common Sense Says Cellphone Tracking Is as Intrusive as a GPS Tracker [Privacy]
A NY state judge has said that looking up a person's movements via cell phone location data is just as intrusive as GPS tracking. Bless him. More
Mapping Your Pals With Nearby Friends: Creepy or Fair Game? [Facebook]
Is Facebook Places not sufficiently immersing you in the mundanity of your friends' lives? Try Nearby Friends, an app that plots their check-ins—past and present—on Google Maps. Just don't let any of them catch you using it. More
University Scans Student ID Cards to Take Attendance at Lectures
High schoolers have long grown broad-smiled and wide-eyed when regaled with their older friends' college stories -- parties, sleeping late, football games, and, amazingly to think, no attendance requirements. While those youngsters need not fear that all-night ragers and tailgating will fade into obscurity anytime soon, it may be a different story with class attendance. At least one college, Northern Arizona University, has begun using electronic scanners to track students' attendance at lectures.
"We do have to say to a lot of students that it really is important that you do show up to class," NAU associate professor Brandon Cruickshank told NPR. "You are not going to do well if you're not here." Buttressed by the arguments of professors like Cruickshank, NAU has decided that, starting today (the first day of the academic year), students will be required to swipe their ID cards upon arrival at large lecture classes. Citing low graduation rates and large numbers of five-year students, the university may be secure in its decision, but many of its students are not.
Continue reading University Scans Student ID Cards to Take Attendance at Lectures
University Scans Student ID Cards to Take Attendance at Lectures originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
For Now, Most Americans Happy to Be Un-Located [Privacy]
Will most people ever really aspire to be mayor? The buzz surrounding location services is massively disproportionate to their actual use, says the NY Times—only 1% of Americans use them weekly. But will it remain a yuppie novelty? More
These Vans Can See You Naked With Their Full-Body Scanners [Fullbodyscan]
It's not just airport security that can see you naked with their full-body scanner, AS&E's Z Backscatter Vans do the same thing. Only difference is that, well, vans are mobile vehicles that can hit the streets and target anyone. More
Cops Don’t Need Warrants to Plant GPS on Cars, Federal Court Says
A federal judge in California recently ruled that police can place a GPS on a person's car without his or her knowledge without seeking a warrant. CNN reports that Juan Pineda-Moreno's appeal was rejected for the third time in early August by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers nine West Coast states. Pineda-Moreno claimed that Oregon DEA agents had violated his privacy by sneaking onto his property and placing a GPS tracker on his Jeep, due to their suspicions that he was growing marijuana. To support their case against Pineda-Moreno, prosecutors used data culled by the device, such as the latitude and longitude of where the Jeep had been driven and how long it had stayed at those coordinates.
While Pineda-Moreno will continue serving his 51-month sentence, not everybody agrees with the court's ruling. "The vast majority of the 60 million people living in the Ninth Circuit will see their privacy materially diminished by the panel's ruling," Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote in his dissent of the case. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told CNN that the ruling was "Orwellian."
Continue reading Cops Don't Need Warrants to Plant GPS on Cars, Federal Court Says
Cops Don't Need Warrants to Plant GPS on Cars, Federal Court Says originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Stephen Colbert’s Internet Privacy Smackdown [Colbert]
The Colbert Report set its sights last night on internet privacy—skewering CEO Eric Schmidt, especially, for saying we'll all need name changes someday. More
New Canaan, Connecticut Schools Consider Tracking Students With RFID
One of the United States' most affluent cities is debating whether or not, and how, to track its students with RFID tags. School officials in New Canaan, Connecticut have engaged in talks with SecureRF Corporation, which has applied for a $100,000 federal research grant and is hoping to find test partners. Among the potential applications for the radio-frequency identification devices (like those used in mobile payment systems) bandied about were tracking students for the purpose of emergency evacuations, streamlining the bus system and monitoring who's cutting class. At least one board member, it seems, has some sense, though. "I can perceive parents would have an issue with tracking kids through the school and through town," Jim Kucharczyk told the New Canaan Advertiser. "There's a big difference between putting this on the school bus [and] putting it on backpacks or an ID card."
Fortunately for the students of New Canaan High School, Superintendent Dr. David Abbey has made clear that participation in the experiment would not be mandatory, and that it would require both student and parental permission. Of course, this begs the question: what kind of kid would jump at the opportunity to be tracked? We have a sneaking suspicion that the RFID data would skew towards the library, computer lab and the student crossing guard.
New Canaan, Connecticut Schools Consider Tracking Students With RFID originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Google Now Invading the Privacy of Dolphins, Sponges and Sea Cucumbers [Apps]
Google released an update of its Google Earth for Android app yesterday, giving users the chance to look underwater at the sea floor. Seeing as it's not April 1st, we have to assume this is a proper feature release. More