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Dec
7
Facebook Data Collection Hits the Fan
Filed Under Advertising on the internet, Internet privacy, Security | 3 Comments
Facebook has a big plate of eggs on its face after it came to light about their Beacon information collection. It has highlighted the current information gathering frenzy going on in the Internet.
It seems to be the vogue to collect streams of data and then claim it is part of a “technical checking process” as Facebook spokesman Matt Hicks claimed or that the information was not stored, used or sold. If this is the case, then why go to the bother of collecting all the data in the first place. Isn’t there a more efficient way of providing a “technical check” - that phrase is nothing more than marketing blather.
In this case the info gathering went far beyond gathering benign data - it was used to track purchases online. The data was then shared with other users and advertisers without consent. This flies in the face of Facebook’s claim the data was not used in any way. Sounds to me like what we used to call a bold faced lie. How Facebook can stand up and make their claims of innocence is beyond me.
If, what Facebook was up to is not entirely clear to you, then let me quote from The Nation’s article on the subject:
Facebook had launched Beacon, which was using “social advertising” technology to broadcast information about online purchases without many users’ consent. The idea was to convert private commerce into public endorsements: “Ben Bloom ate at the restaurant Junnoon,” read one ad, with a prominent head shot of Ben displayed next to the company logo. But what if Ben didn’t want his lunch date to be an ad? Beacon enrolled people automatically, offering users a choice to “opt out” of each ad on an individual basis.
The sharing and using of information is implicit in this program. To claim the information collected was not used or shared is false. How can this program work without the use of the data. I don’t hear any explanation of this ethical two-step anywhere. Just a resounding silence.
Sit back for a minute and ponder the implications of such unauthorized intrusions into your social life. Lets say you scooted on over to your favourite bookstore’s website to purchase a Christmas certificate for a friend. Next thing you know, your face is all over the internet advertising the fact you love the place so much you’ve done your Christmas shopping there - and what do you get for the use of your face and lose of privacy? Not a damned thing, except perhaps your friend now knows what their present is. Merry Christmas!
This isn’t “social advertising”. Its just plain old advertising done in a dishonest manner. No matter how you dress it up, this was not ethical. Sounds a lot like the Emperor’s New Clothing - oh and yes the Emperor is indeed naked. I can just imagine the corporate folks who thought up this gem sitting around the big table justifying Beacon software - Oh what money we’ll make, and how little we’ll have to pay. We can do an end run around the advertising firms - no costs! We can get our customers to do all our work for us! Wheeee…. what a scam.
I tend to be very wary of signing my name to anything on the Internet. Everyone wants my address, name, phone number, hat size… some companies want this information before I use their self-serve support to figure out issues with THEIR equipment. I now have a stock set of answers for their questions. My name is Piss Off - and yup I actually get unsolicited email, from companies that swore they would not use the information, to Dear Piss Off. My email is noneoff_your@damnedbusiness.com. My phone number 555-555-5555. My address is whatever large company ticks me off at the moment. This works everytime. You are welcome to use my technique in avoiding the useless info grabbing, its fun and cathartic at the same time. You might have to vary the email a bit, many of my customers use it and you may find it’s already used. I get downright rude in some of my answers because this is a waste of my time and an unwarranted intrusion upon my privacy.
I’m waiting to see which corporation gets it in the neck next month for this type of egregious behaviour. I just know it will happen again.
Nov
9
Stealing a neighbour’s Internet connection
Filed Under Security, advice, internet usage | 3 Comments
As I write this article, I am in my favourite cafe. I’ve logged onto their free internet access so I can pretend to work. A curious thing occurred when I popped open my laptop and fired it up. I automatically connected to someone else’s network - not the cafe’s. I have no idea who this person is or where they are located, they are identified as Netgear only. My computer saw an open connection with no security and logged onto it.
Voila, a free ride on someone else’s dollar.
I run into this type of security risk quite often. There are 3 competing cafes on this corner alone, each one offers Internet access. Two of them do not offer an open connection, you have to take out a subscription. I’m sure many customers log onto Netgear for free, rather than pay for the connection. I am sure some customers connect to Netgear and don’t even realise it.
What’s the problem with that? Let me count the problems:
- Netgear is the name of the router. This tells me the router is working on all the default (factory) settings. Easy to log in and reconfigure the router and lock the user out. What a major pain that can be. Think of the time wasted trying to find out why you can’t connect to the Internet. Internet providers will not help you troubleshoot your router problems so you will be on your own to figure it out.
- This also tells me the Netgear owner has zero security on their connection. This is a major problem. And don’t give me the line about “I have nothing valuable on my computer”. This answer drives me up the wall! Are your photo’s valuable to you? How about your name, email address, do you have your banking information on your computer? Do you have something like Quicken? Great way to loose your identity. Your photo’s are valuable to you! Do you really want to risk having some punk with a attitude playing around with them? How about your email address? I’m sure you will be quite pissed if they suddenly disappear.
- Just what are these anonymous users doing with your connection? I have a customer, who at the time he called me in was in his 70’s. He thought mastering cut, copy and paste were major achievements. He received a letter from a lawyer telling him to “Stop his hacking endeavours immediately” or he would be faced with court action. Turned out someone was using his connection, here in Toronto to hack into a company in Calgary. Who was this person? We never knew, but my customer was being held accountable because the ip address was his. Maybe the unknown person using your wireless connection is downloading movies. Do you think the lawyers for the Movie industry will care you left your connection wide open? Your connection, your responsibility, your lawsuit.
- Just think of the number of people who are having a free ride on Netgear’s dollar. Potentially 90 unwanted users taking up Netgear’s bandwidth in a month. Wonder if Netgear is having speed problems with their connection. Bet they are really sluggish around lunch time and after work! I calculated this by 1 customer per cafe x 3 cafes x 30 days.
- Many Internet providers have a bandwidth transfer limit. This means, the more you cruise and download, the more you may have to pay. Most providers provide their customers with plenty of bandwidth space. But bandwidth is calculated for single home use - not sharing your connection with 90 other people. I wonder if Netgear has been hit with extra fees for extreme bandwidth usage.
- I become quite steamed when I hear people talking so blithely about using someone else’s connection without permission. Stop being so damned cheap and get your own.
So, still think you don’t need to secure your wireless connection?
Oct
29
Quicken XG - “Unable to access the disk in drive C:”
Filed Under Quicken, Vista, error message, unable to access | Leave a Comment
I ran across an annoying problem about 2 weeks back with Quicken. The customer had a new computer, running Vista and Quicken XG. Previously, the backups were saved to the hard drive and then saved to a CD for storage. With Vista and XG we kept getting the following error:
Unable to access the disk in drive C:
Please make sure the drive is ready
and the disk is not write-protected.
No amount of trickery could get Quicken to recognise the hard drive. The hard drive was okay, and the software was working fine. Instead of banging my head against the keyboard, I tried to save directly to CD and what do you know - it worked. Here’s what I did:
Put the DVD/CDR in first.
Wait until the disk powers up.
When you are asked what you want to do, select BURN DISK
Go ahead and backup using Quicken’s Backup feature but remember to change the drive to your CD - usually d: or e:
Worked everytime.
To continue using the same CD for backups, pop the disk into the cd drive and wait until the drive reads the file. Once it has done this, proceed to your Quicken backup as you normally do.
Oct
16
Do you need to replace your current desktop computer?
Filed Under hardware, new computer purchase, purchase advice | 2 Comments
Is it time to replace your computer? Not sure if you want to go the laptop route?
I love my laptop computer, but there are times when I want to sit at my desk and see everything on the big screen. This is especially true when I’m working on an article or document for a customer - that extra screen space of a 19″ flat panel monitor makes the job easier.
Computers are moving out of the dusty basements and into the living areas of many homes. Unfortunately the traditional computer is a bit unsightly. Face it, computers don’t blend in very well and they take up a honking chunk of space. If you don’t have the space (or just don’t want to look at the ugly big box all the time) and want the size and luxury of a large monitor, look to what I’m calling the mini computers. They have all the advantages of a big box computer but a fraction of the size.
Acer has one of note at the moment - the Acer ASL100-ED403. It’s small - 2.4″w x 9.8″ d x 7.9″ h in size. A
dd a nice 19″ monitor and you have the perfect system for a home office or internet cruiser. I don’t think it would be the best for gaming - I read the power supply is relatively light weight, so if you have a family member who is a hard core gamer, look elsewhere. This system won’t do for big games.
The computer, despite it’s size, is a heavy weight with a 2.1 Ghz processor, 1 gig of ram, Nvidia graphics (adjustable to 256 megs), 250 meg harddrive and more. For those who don’t speak geek, this translates into a fast and powerful machine. A bit of overkill for the average user, but better too much than not enough.
I doubt it is the most upgradeable system because of its small size, a bit of a drawback, but many home users shouldn’t be too worried about that. Most of my home and home office customers rarely need system upgrades. The basic out of the box computer is more that enough.
The computer runs Vista already, take it home and it’s ready to run. Pick out the right monitor and you will have a great system. Shop around for the best price - in Toronto at the moment the best price is Best Buy for $699 + taxes, the monitor is extra. If you have a nice flat panel monitor, use it, you don’t have to purchase a new one.
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