(Updated below with responses to comments by Jason Kaufman, one of the lead researchers on this project) (Another update: I'm pretty sure the "anonymous, Northeastern university" from where this dataset was derived is Harvard College. Details here) A group of…
Read More On the “Anonymity” of the Facebook Dataset (Updated)
Banned Books Week 2008 is being celebrated September 27 - October 4, and is the 27th annual celebration of the freedom to choose what we read, as well as to select from a full array of possibilities. According to the…
On the heels of the recent Pew study concerning cloud computing and privacy, Consume Reports has released a poll revealing that most Americans are very concerned about what is being done with their personal information online. Some highlights: 72% are…
Read More Poll Reveals Amercians are Concerned about Online Privacy, but Grossly Misinformed
On Monday, September 22, we celebrated OneWebDay in Milwaukee for the first time. It was a great success. The School of Information Studies and the Center for Information Policy Research had an information booth set up in the middle of…
Remember Beacon? That a pervasive tool Facebook created for tracking, collecting, and publishing user purchasing habits across the Web? After enough uproar, Facebook was kind enough to offer users a way to opt-out of this surveillance assemblage. Well, I was…
Read More Facebook *Really* Wants You to Use Beacon (Updated)
As Banned Books Week near (September 27-October 4), Nancy Kranich, past president of the American Library Association, reminds us of the many attempts to restrict our right to read, including an example from Wasilla, Alaska: This year's banned book focal…
Next Monday, September 22, is OneWebDay, and our banner is up in the UW-Milwaukee Union, and the sidewalks are chalked! More details for the Milwaukee event can be found here and here. If you won't be in Milwaukee, hopefully you…
Pew Internet and American Life project released a new study revealing that 69% of online Americans rely on "cloud computing" for many of their communication and productivity needs, including web-based email, online data storage and file sharing, or software programs…
Read More Use of cloud computing increasing, despite privacy concerns
During my studies in privacy and surveillance theory, I've gained an interest in technologies of obfuscation and resistance. Especially simple ones that nearly any average citizen can implement. TrackMeNot is a great example: a simple Firefox extension that periodically issues…
I’ve been ridiculously busy lately, and need to quickly catch up on some recent items of note: Scientific American has a nice special issue dedicated to "the future of privacy." Nothing new here for most privacy scholars, but it is…
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