Public Service Internet

"At the 3rd International Open Data Conference in Ottawa on 28 May, the Open Data Institute published a short discussion paper to stimulate a public debate about data infrastructure."

Someone who knows things about us has some measure of control over us, and someone who knows everything about us has a lot of control over us. Surveillance facilitates control.

"Facebook's News Feed-the main list of status updates, messages, and photos you see when you open Facebook on your computer or phone-is not a perfect mirror of the world. But few users expect that Facebook would change their News Feed in order to manipulate their emotional state."

" Your activity tracker knows a ridiculous amount about you-from the wear on your running shoes to what coffee shop you'll stop at on your next ride. And that data's getting shared for financial gain. "

"The Intercept's Micah Lee explains how to use Diceware's to generate a passphrase that can survive the NSA's trillion-guess-per-second cracking attempts -- but which can still be easily memorized. "

"Big data opens up a hyper-personalised marketing opportunity - but creative treads a thin line between relevance and invasiveness"

People without Facebook accounts, logged out users, and EU users who have explicitly opted out of tracking are all being tracked, report says

"We've discussed the stupidity of privacy policies many times in the past. Honestly, it's an idea that serves no useful purpose, yet most sites are required to have one, and if you don't, people get all upset. But no one reads them, and most people incorrectly assume that if a site has any privacy policy, they must keep data private. "

Karen is a life coach and she's happy to help you work through a few things in your life. You interact with Karen through an app. When you begin, she asks you some questions about your outlook on the world to get an understanding of you. In fact, her questions are drawn from psychological profiling questionnaires. She - and the software - are profiling you and she gives you advice based on your answers.

"A California man has filed a class action suit against Fitbit, alleging that the company's sleep tracking is inaccurate and constitutes false advertising. "

"Last week, a gossip blog based in the Dominican Republic called Remolacha published a disturbing video of what it said was a "self-parking car accident." A group of people stand in a garage watching and filming a grey Volvo XC60 that backs up, stops, and then accelerates toward the group. It smashes into two people, and causes the person filming the video with his phone to drop it and run."

"We live in the social mobile era, where we all collect and share vast amounts of data about ourselves and others. "

The hacking of the dating site Ashley Madison has raised complex questions about online privacy and the safety of personal data, but for the users of the site, which claims to have more than 33 million members in 46 countries, the questions are fairly straightforward: what are the chances my husband or wife will find my profile on the site, and what can I do to stop that happening?

Large caches of data stolen from online cheating site AshleyMadison.com have been posted online by an individual or group that claims to have completely compromised the company's user databases, financial records and other proprietary information. The still-unfolding leak could be quite damaging to some 37 million users of the hookup service, whose slogan is "Life is short. Have an affair."

A security researcher accessed personal information stored by Hello Barbie, a Wi-Fi-enabled talking Barbie doll.

It's rarely a coincidence when you see Web ads for products that match your interests. WSJ's Christina Tsuei explains how advertisers use cookies to track your online habits.

Coffee chain Starbucks has begun asking its UK customers their names in a bid to appear more friendly. But do people really want to be on first name terms with their barista?

Critical and insightful reading list about IOT

I didn't realize how much data about me Messenger was revealing to the people I chatted with until last week when I began tinkering with my message history.