A few days ago I blogged about how I was able to check my wife into a local liquor store using Facebook Places without her permission, despite Facebook's insistence that "No one can be checked in to a location without their explicit permission". This check-in has remained visible in my news feed, and depending on my privacy settings, may be viewable by any logged in Facebook user. Presumably there also is a database at Facebook that contains a record of my checking-in my wife into this location. Again, all without my wife's explicit consent to participating in this new "feature". Now, four days later, my wife had a chance to react to the notification she received from Facebook regarding my tagging her, and I thought I'd share a few more reactions to her attempt to opt-out of Places altogether.
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Google Acquires Like.com, and its Facial Recognition Technology
It was confirmed last week that Google is acquiring Like.com, a visual search engine that focuses on helping people shop for clothing and accessories online. While most stories are spinning this as Google's attempt to improve its product search engine…
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Facebook Places Privacy Falls Short: Non-Authorized Check-Ins by Friends are Visible
Facebook has finally launched its location-based service: Places. Places allows Facebook users to "check in" wherever they are using a mobile device, and let's their friends know where they are at the moment. Facebook has tried to do a better job addressing privacy with Places compared to previous launches of new "features". Particularly, Facebook brags that "no location information is associated with a person unless he or she explicitly chooses to become part of location sharing. No one can be checked in to a location without their explicit permission." But as I've played around with the service, I've uncovered a problem with Facebook's assertion that "no one can be checked in to a location without their explicit permission."
2011 ALISE Information Ethics SIG CFP: Innovations in Teaching Information Ethics Across Contexts
I have been charged with convening a panel for the Information Ethics special interest group of ALISE (Association for Library and Information Science Education), to be held at its 2011 annual conference.I've decided to focus on how LIS scholars and…
SACHRP Presentation: Research Ethics in the 2.0 Era: Conceptual Gaps for Ethicists, Researchers, IRBs
On Wednesday, July 21, 2010, I will be presenting in front of the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP), part of the Office for Human Research Protections in the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). My presentation will focus on how Web 2.0 tools, environments, and experiences are creating new conceptual gaps in our understanding of privacy, anonymity/identifiability, consent, and harm.
Wilhelm Peekhaus joins UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies as Postdoctoral Fellow in Information Policy
The School of Information Studies and the Center for Information Policy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee announces the addition of Wilhelm Peekhaus as a postdoctoral fellow in information policy.
Registration Open – and a Student Grant Opportunity – for Internet Research 11.0
Registration is now open for Internet Research 11.0: Sustainability, Participation, Action, the 2010 conference for the Association of Internet Researchers, taking place October 21-23 in Gothenburg, Sweden. And, if you’re a student looking for ways to defray some of the costs, the UW-Milwaukee Center for Information Policy Research (CIPR) will again sponsor a student (undergraduate, graduate or post-doc) for the conference in the amount of US$800.
Brill’s Much Ado About Zittrain
The Daily Beast's Emily Brill criticizes Jonathan Zittrain for publishing an op-ed critical of Apple, without specific disclosure of the fact that his academic home, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, receives funding from some of Apple's competitors, such as Google and Microsoft. Brill seems determined to explore (and accuse) whether Zittrain -- and the Berkman Center generally -- succumbs to the pressures of funding sources in forming research conclusions and policy opinions. Of course he doesn't.
CFP: 2011 Computer Ethics/Philosophical Enquiry Conference (Milwaukee, WI)
I'm thrilled to announce that the School of Information Studies and the Center for Information Policy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will be hosting the 2011 Computer Ethics/Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) conference, May 31 to June 3, 2011. The bi-annual…
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A Scientist Might Create Information, but an Information Professional Makes it Useful
As part of the strategic process of changing the name of the UW-M School of Information Studies undergraduate program from a B.S. in Information Resources to a B.S. in Information Science & Technology, I've been thinking a lot lately about…
Read More A Scientist Might Create Information, but an Information Professional Makes it Useful
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