Group items tagged

We all know video content is one of the most popular types of content on the web, driving some of the most innovative and popular web based applications (for example Skype, ChatRoulette, YouTube). However, new video-centric applications, which combine real-time, social networking and broadcasting are putting an even more intense spotlight on questions of privacy than ever before. This particular article profiles examples that are surely just web minutes away from the tipping point, giving users the chance to broadcast their lives in ways Twitter can only dream of. Surprisingly, the article only touches on privacy issues, suggesting that we are too willing to post personal information about ourselves. Reader comments rightly point out we are moving into very murky territory where the attitude seems to be that anything posted on the web is fair game and can be used against the person who posted it.

What does it mean for both your privacy and personal reputation if you are putting everything online? If governments/corporations/employers etc can access so much personal information about you, how will this affect your life and the 'control' that such organisations have?

Abstract In today's digital world, personal privacy has become the number one issue for consumers [9]. Consumers' confidence in personal privacy is directly affecting and limiting the growth of the Internet commercial development. Therefore, it has become a necessity to address the consumers privacy concerns for the interests of the parties involved.

Big discussion about the permanent storage of personal data in Germany at the moment. Google and its inter-connected services is just one part of it. The government talks about the "Gläserne Bürger" (vitreous citizen) but still they seem to like it somehow - at least they haven't come to an agreement yet. Also see http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/0,1518,682129,00.html @Google street view: The campus of Sydney University cannot be visited via this service. Why?

Is this war? It looks trivial, sounds personal but at heart this is 2 key multinational corporations fighting for the domination of markets that may well define us culturally, socially, economically and eventually politically. Google's overt entry into the hardware domain merely underlines the scary power we know they have.

GoDaddy.com, the world's largest domain name registration company is taking similar action to Google by deciding to not conduct further business in China. This decision is a reaction to China now demanding that applicants of domain names are to provide additional personal information, including a full colour head shot photograph. While China maintains forcing applicants to register extensive personal information will curb the creation of unsavoury sites (namely pornography) everyone else outside of the Chinese government believes such detailed personal information will equip the government to target any individual (to what extent - who knows) displaying any content that the government does not support. Is this an invasion of privacy? Should people be able to exercise multiple personas on the internet, or should you be who you are? If a government is to collect such information who will ensure the information it collects isn't abused? Do we answer these questions differently when thinking of China i.e. what would the answers be if Australia was to introduce such a law? At the very least, it's a relief to see companies realising that China is compromising the values of the internet and are reacting suitably by taking their services out of the country. More need to participate in the retalliation.

There has been some controversy about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's comments in an online chat from 2006 that surfaced recently. He told a friend that Facebook users were dumb for trusting him and submitting private, personal information on his then-fledgling website. An initiative by four young programmers to counteract the negative effects that Facebook has had on privacy and the ability of users to control the data they put online is Diaspora. It is a decentralised, open source social network that wants to compete with centralised social networks that allow "spying for free". It will be interesting to see whether the initiative really takes off as a viable alternative to Facebook.

Israeli soldier posts the details of an operation on Facebook, and the operation is called off. Ironic: the Internet, originally a military tool, causes trouble in the military. Like with potential victims for kidnapping in Mexico posting personal details online: should basic media literacy education be provided for the use of social media among groups with potential risks?

Whilst not strictly about reputation, this post discusses tracking what your (your being a person or entity) fans are also fans of. This tells us alot about identity and reputation within different communities, and helps to track coalitions of interest and identity.

Wikipedia is one of the most used sites on the site, and a 'go to' for infomation. But what happens when the site is about - or mentions - a real, living person? There are many cases of anpeople suffering damages to their reputation - particularly politicians - due to misleading, false or slanderous Wikipedia entries. This invention hopes to remedy that and show that you can't trust everything you read online. This also helps regulate some of the pitfalls of collaboration, and encourages the less-than-excellent collaborations to improve. Exposure of false collaboration can damage the reputation of the collaborators, and encourage them to improve.

This discusses companies such as 'Reputation Hawk' which focus on improving your online reputation - particularly pertaining to your personal identity. It highlights how important your reputation is online - in many ways it is the only social currency that you have.

Google launches an application to find people affected by the Chilean earthquake. Note disclaimer.  "PLEASE NOTE: All data entered will be available to the public and viewable and usable by anyone. Google does not review or verify the accuracy of this data."

This article discusses the potential problems managing your reputation and identity online when a person (known or unknown) decides to attack you. As the article reads: "The proliferation of blogs and Web sites can allow angry clients, jealous lovers or ruthless competitors to define a person's identity. Whether true or not, their words can have far-reaching effects" The question to ask is - how do we stop this from happening, and manage it when it does?

The Anita Borg Institute has several initiatives to promote and celebrate women in technology. The 2010 Women of Vision awards celebrate women who have made significant achievements in 3 areas. For Innovation: Kathleen McKeown, Henry and Gertrude Rothschild Professor of Computer Science, Columbia University For Social Impact: Lila Ibrahim, General Manager, Emerging Markets Platform Group, Intel Corporation For Leadership: Kristina Johnson, Ph.D., Under Secretary for Energy at the Department of Energy This excerpt of a post from Katy Dickinson at SanJose.MetBlogs.com shows why this is important! "I have referred dozens of young women to the 2008 WOV talk by Helen Greiner. Any girl geek who feels too alone in her love of technology will be encouraged by the amazing founder of iRobot saying that when she was young "not one person told me I should be an Engineer" and "we need diversity of perspectives … more women's life experiences influencing our directions and designs".

Teachers are very much aware and very much worried on how social networking sites, particularly Facebook, are being used by students to "bully" and spread false allegations about them. Not only professional reputations are at stake in acts like these, but hate sites will surely affect the personal lives of teachers as well.  

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is convinced that big Web players like Google or Facebook are collecting too much personal information of their users. Users could barely choose privacy, a FTC representative stated. They insist that the current privacy regime is not efficient.

"Some criticize me, others insult me. I don't care," he said. "It's a form of contact with the world." The president joined Twitter on April 27 in an attempt to counter adversaries who have actively used the site to make accusations of human rights violations, organize protests and - above all - ridicule Chavez. I found this interesting for many reasons - Chavez's use of Twitter as a communication mode but also to counter criticism of his government and person.

Facebook alters functionality and gets more personal, raising increasing concerns about user privacy.

PJ Fenwick gives the lowdown on facebook's personalisation and what you are sharing with whom. If anyone ever wondered where the money was in the 'free' internet, then follow the moves that facebook and google are making to market all of the personal info that you so lovingly and willingly provide to your 'friends'.

Google has released the extent to which intruders broke into their system in January. It targeted their password system which controls access to users worldwide. This brings up the debate about the security and privacy of systems like Google that centralize personal information. However, the real issue behind this attack was that it was traced to two computers in China which then started the whole 'Google to change its policy toward China'.

A survey which was released as part of the Pacific-wide Privacy Week (last week) shows that people in New Zealand are very concerned about their Internet privacy.It is of main concern how social networks use personal information and how search engines and websites are tracking online behaviour for targeted advertising.