Nathan Weinberg at InsideGoogle (a great blog I recently discovered) adds to the growing concerns with GWA, realizing that Google is essentially privatizing the Web through their vast cache of sites:Google has essentially decided to make "an extra copy" of…
Author: Michael Zimmer
Google Web Accelerator: Pros & Cons
Google Labs released Google Web Accelerator (GWA) today, software you download to your computer which utilizes Google servers as a proxy for web content, delivering the pages to your system more rapidly and making your browsing experience more efficient. From…
How “search” is redefining the Web — and our lives
The Seattle Times had an article this weekend on "How 'search' is redefining the Web — and our lives." It is a well-written piece and provides a succinct history of the search engine industry, but ,as is typical, these kinds…
Read More How “search” is redefining the Web — and our lives
Google TrustRank
Google registered a trademark for the word "TrustRank," as Search Engine Watch and Google Blogoscoped discuss. I agree with the speculation that TrustRank sounds like a more social variant of the link-based PageRank algorithm Google relies on for search results.…
Value Implicaitons of Nanotechnology
While presenting at the AAAS Science and Technology in Society Graduate Conference this past weekend, I met Ruben Rodriques, a Political Science grad student from Northeastern University. Ruben is a researcher at the Nanotechnology and Society Research Group, an exciting…
Feds Rethinking RFID Passport
Wired News reports: "Following criticism from computer security professionals and civil libertarians about the privacy risks posed by new RFID passports the government plans to begin issuing, a State Department official said his office is reconsidering a privacy solution it…
Yahoo Turns Over E-Mail Account Of Marine Killed In Iraq
Yahoo has reached a settlement with the family of a deceased Marine over access to the data in his Yahoo! accounts. I originally blogged this story here, and a related post on the ethical issues that confront companies like Yahoo…
Read More Yahoo Turns Over E-Mail Account Of Marine Killed In Iraq
Google’s My Search History
Google has released a beta version My Search History to enable you to “find information you thought you lost.” After you login using your Google Account (e.g., your Gmail login), a search history link will be added to the upper…
Barr: Law vs. Technology
Bob Barr, formerly a member of the House of Representatives and the Judiciary Committee, recently published an editorial on FindLaw asking the questions "Can We Protect Our Privacy Through Legal Solutions? Or Is Technology Now Beyond Our Control?" He points…
Ubiquitous Cameras & Privacy in Public
My earlier discussion of privacy as Contextual Integrity builds on the problem of "privacy in public and how public surveillance has become a part of a modern citizen’s everyday life. This AP article drives home just how ubiquitous surveillance cameras…
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