Archive for the ‘Privacy’ Category

Data security meets disco fever

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

(This posts originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) Here's a travel advisory: The next time you find yourself in a foreign city at night with nothing to do, take my advice: rent a movie in your hotel room. Don't go to discos. And if you do go out, ...

Everybody’s got something to hide (except for me and my YouTube)

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) So a New York judge last week ordered Google to hand over 12 terabytes of YouTube user information to Viacom. Yes, we know what you watched last summer, or at least Viacom's attorneys soon will.  The ...

Dollars, sense and censorship

Monday, July 7th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) The Bush Administration's anti-recession tactics have given rise to an unexpected beneficiary: the Internet pørn industry. According to the Adult Internet Market Research Company, adult sites have been engorged with sales during the normally limp summer months. One ...

Uncle Spy Wants You

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) Last week the House of Representatives passed a "compromise" amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, though it sounds like the only things that have been compromised are our Constitutional rights. Now the Senate is poised to do ...

Jurists gone wild

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) A federal judge in Los Angeles has recused himself from a obscenity trial after a trove of dirty pictures were found squirreled away on his personal web site. Sounds scandalous, no? But the reality is both more complicated ...

Do not attempt to adjust your Internet

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

(This post originally appeared in Infoworld's Notes From the Field Blog.) It's been a wild week here in Cringeville. My blog posts on YouTube v. Viacom and the FCC's proposal for a pørn-free wireless Internet have inspired raging debates about copyrights and corporate rights, free speech and free sex. ...

A Porn Free Internet?

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

The FCC may soon require bidders on a swath of the wireless spectrum to deliver a free, wireless version access to the Net -- sans adult content. Is a porn-free Internet possible or even desirable? Infoworld's Robert Cringely has some thoughts on the matter here. Tell us how you feel ...

Geek Week: Comcast’s hit by vandals; an end to HP spying scandal

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field Blog.) Throttle this. Bit Torrent blocking Comcast got an education in the ways of the Net this week when hackers gained access to the ISP's domain name records and redirected Comcast.net traffic to a vandalized site. Teenage hackers with ...

DIY Identity-Theft Protection: A 12-Step Program

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on PCworld.com.) You don't have to spend $100 to $200 a year to defend yourself from identity theft at the level of protection that a paid service offers. You can do almost everything the services do, for free. But following these steps will require time and effort. Get ...

ID Theft Protection: Who Can You Trust?

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

New online services offer to protect you from identity theft, and some claim to help you undo damage after it happens. But when we tested the services, we found that many fall short. (This story originally appeared in the June 2008 issue of PC World magazine.) by Dan Tynan You can't open a ...

The Numbers Game

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

Someday all your home appliances will be logging onto the Net -- and keeping an eye on you (A slightly different version of this story appeared in the May issue of US Airways magazine.) by Dan Tynan I have seen the future of the Internet, and it's sitting on my desk inside a ...

Pentagon Hacks and Google Maps

Monday, March 10th, 2008

(This post originally appeared in InfoWorld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely I have this nosy but absent-minded Uncle. He likes to paw through my emails, peruse my web history, and tap my phones. But when it comes to protecting his own, more important secrets, he's mostly clueless. Case in ...

Netaholics Anonymous

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

(This post originally appeared in Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely If God had wanted me to be an attorney I'd have been born with a dorsal fin and razor sharp teeth. So the subtleties of the law sometimes elude me. But there have been a couple of ...

Judge to Baer: Stick this stipulation in your secret bank account

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Since it seems to be All Baer v. WikiLinks, All the Time here at Tynan on Technology, here is the latest on the case, courtesy of CNet's man on the spot, Declan McCullough: SAN FRANCISCO--Wikileaks may get its domain name back sooner than later. A federal judge here has spent 90 ...

Flying Pig Airways: Questions for Julius Baer

Friday, February 29th, 2008

It's like an itch you can't help scratching -- or at least I can't. Yesterday's press release by the Bank Julius Baer's PR minions left me with more questions than answers. So last night I shot off a few queries to the crack PR team, just to see if they ...

Bank Julius Baer emerges from hibernation, issues official statement

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

This just landed in my inbox. Bank Julius Baer would like to clear up some "misconceptions" regarding the WikiLeaks debacle. Here's their statement, with commentary to follow. -- D. T. ZURICH / NEW YORK, February 28, 2008 --- Julius Baer wishes to address certain misconceptions relating to a recent court ...

Five Ways to Watch Your Back On the Net

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

(A version of this story originally appeared on PCworld.com.) by Dan Tynan It's not what other people think of you that matters. It's what they can find out about you on the Web that will affect your ability to get a job or promotion, rent an apartment, buy a house, get ...

It may be Google’s data, but it’s you they’re gonna arrest

Monday, February 25th, 2008

(Originally posted on Infoworld.com's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. (don't call me Bob) Cringely Sergey Brin has weighed in on the whole MicroHoo fandango, and not surprisingly he's agin' it. At Google's Lunar X prize announcement last week, Brin told the Associated Press: The Internet has evolved from open standards, ...

Look Before You Leak

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

(Originally published on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely I bet you thought people banked in the Cayman Islands because they serve fruity cocktails with tiny parasols in them while you're waiting for your checks to clear. Well, you're only partly right. The other reason people keep accounts ...

Borderline illegal: Your laptop is not your own

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

(Originally published by Robert X. Cringely on his Notes From the Field blog for Infoworld. by Robert X. Cringely Planning to travel out of the country? Maybe you want to think twice about bringing your laptop, your cell phone, or even that iPod. (And if you're of Asian or Middle Eastern descent, ...