Privacy is not dead in the era of online social networking. It just needs careful curation. That was the message Saturday from Danah Boyd, a social-media expert who works for Microsoft Research and who was Saturday's keynote speaker at the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival here. . Boyd is one of the original social-media researchers, having spent years studying the dynamics of how systems like MySpace and Facebook impact teens and youth culture, and how that culture is impacting such services. But she also has demonstrated over the years a keen sense of how people across all age groups use social networks, and her talk touched on many different communities. To begin with, she said, privacy is by no means dead. "People care very much about privacy, no matter how old they are," Boyd said. "The challenge is that what privacy means may not be what you think...Fundamentally, it's about having control over how information flows...When people feel they don't have control over their environment or their setting, they feel as though their privacy has been violated. And they cry foul." To begin with, Boyd used the recent Google Buzz debacle as an example of how people of all stripes demonstrated that they care deeply about their privacy. She explained that while there was nothing technically wrong with the way Google's new social-networking system integrated with Gmail, it nonetheless resulted in a PR nightmare for the search giant because "they made nontechnical mistakes that ended up in social disruption." The link for this article located at CNET is no longer available. . Data protection remains crucial in online communities; it requires thoughtful management as emphasized by specialist Danah Boyd.. Social Media Privacy Control, Information Flow, Online Networking, User Dynamics. . Alex
Despite the changes that Google has made to Buzz following negative reaction to the service, the Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission charging the search giant with violating user privacy.. EPIC on Tuesday asked the FTC to investigate Google and force it to change or stop offering several features of Buzz, Google's social-networking service launched last week. It also asked for compensatory relief if the agency deems it appropriate. One of EPIC's concerns is that Buzz is opt-out, rather than opt-in. Gmail users are automatically signed up to be part of Buzz unless they uncheck a box. EPIC asked the FTC to require Google to instead ask Gmail users to opt into the service. The link for this article located at Tech World is no longer available. . CFA demands Federal Trade Commission examine Apple's privacy practices regarding Health app, advocating for stronger user agreement reforms.. Google Buzz Privacy, FTC Investigation, User Consent Changes, EPIC Complaint. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
At LinuxWorld today, SPI Dynamic's senior security engineer, Matt Fisher, talked about the vulnerabilities of Web 2.0. One think that I found interesting about this article was when it talks about how users of social-networking can submit html code. We all know this is definitely a security risk that no one should allow to happen. How can these types of sites safely check the html code submitted from users? Are they protecting their users enough? . In particular, Fisher singled out social-networking sites. Because the site depends on user content, the site allows users to upload HTML code, and in most cases, any HTML code. Knowing this, Fisher said someone could put a malicious script code into a blog post where it would sit until someone came along and read it. What bad could possibly happen from that, you might wonder? Fisher said that when someone in a corporate environment opens it, the attacker can then execute code inside the corporate perimeter on the internal network. . Johnson stresses the weaknesses of online platforms, spotlighting dangers posed by user-generated materials in community-driven websites.. Web Security Risks, HTML Code Risks, Social Networking Applications. . Bill Locke
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