Are You Being Watched?

Whenever users go online, many feel some fear that they are being watched. This is because of their sad experiences with unwanted ads. They feel that they are making themselves vulnerable to advertising companies that they do not even know. Continuous consumer education has helped to effectively raise users’ consciousness. An increasing number of users become aware that there are tools that could protect them. All they need to know more about is how to take advantage of these tools.

Some laws and regulations were proposed and implemented for the sake of online safety. In addition, some companies admitted that they have to protect their consumers. As a result, users are now given the option whether to allow tracking of their activities. In the end, they can still continue to enjoy the benefits of being connected to the internet.

Let us take a look at the basics of how online tracking is done. Advertising networks are the ones that usually do this. Their purpose is to get a picture of which sites users visit frequently and which ads they usually respond to. Once they have enough of the data that they need, they will send customized advertisements to a particular user.

Behind these tracking activities are tracking cookies. These simple codes keep a record of every site that the user visits, especially those that they visit frequently. Advertising networks are capable of finding out the user’s preferences based on their online track. There is no wonder why advertisers, in due time, will seem to “personally know” the user.

One good thing about browsers is that they have do-not-track settings that you can use to your advantage. By using your browser’s Opt-Out page, you can get around many of the major ad networks. Many marketing networks respect users’ settings so you no longer have to worry about being watched. You have just to make sure that you visit the opt-out setting for every browser that you use.

Your browser’s private browsing settings can give you added protection. A little amount of patience in choosing your settings can help you a lot. Still, there are plug-ins that can do the same work for you, although they can work only against specific problems. Finally, using a privacy tool can augment your protection. You can choose between a freeware and a paid one. However, all of these cannot guarantee total protection.

Ample time is required for laws that mandate the implementation of do-not-track registries to acquire some muscle. Users can expect total protection only after all these are in place. While waiting for this to come about, you can protect yourself by using these abovementioned available protective tools.

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Parent-Child Relationship and Privacy

Parents need to give their children privacy as to time and space as they grow more mature. The values of trust and responsibility are first learned by children in the home. Because of this, children need parents who can let them live in an environment that builds trust and responsibility. This can happen if children begin to experience in the home the privacy that they need.

Some parents feel uncomfortable when they observe that their child wants his or her own private time. Unless this is dealt with the right way, children will find it difficult to learn to develop trust and responsibility. Parents can creatively and effectively handle this kind of situation by talking with their child. They should make him or her speak what is on his or her mind - why the need to be alone.

Parents should not underestimate the value of knowing the reason why he or she needs some private time and space. Much more, they should be quick in telling whether their child tells the truth. Is the child growing the “normal” way, or does he or she just want to hide something? A child who needs to be alone too often might need counseling and not just privacy.

A positive support environment by parents could help a lot once they are sure that their child shows normal behavior. It is best for both parents and child to sit together and set some rules. Knocking on the door before entering one’s room is a simple privacy rule. However, this should apply to both child and parents. This also means that parents should not be scared when their teen hangs a “Do Not Disturb” sign by his or her door. Parents should take this as a sign of growing up, but they should also be observant.

Many relationship problems can be avoided if parents respect their child’s privacy. Too much intrusion can make children feel insulted. They feel that they will not do the right things when they are out of sight. Children do not have the chance to develop trust in other people, especially when they are ready go out to the bigger world. It is because the home was not an environment that built trust. As parents work for protection of their children, they should also aim to balance it with privacy.

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The Internet and TV Eating Up Family Time

Families should unplug their computers and TVs if only to spend more quality time with their household members. As time spent by family members on the internet and TV increases, family time continues to decline. Results of studies on American families reveal that household members are spending less time with other household members. On the average, an internet user spends 3 hours online every day, while viewers spend an average of 1.7 hours daily watching TV.

Homes are slowly transforming into boarding houses. There seems to be an emerging culture of adults paying no attention to their partners and children, and children not being mindful of their parents and siblings. The family is considered to be the breeding ground for future leaders and responsible citizens. In the home, adults and children are expected to give and receive love and translate this to the whole of society. It is here where children learn the values of trust, support, and kindness, and how to handle anger, loss, embarrassment, etc. It is here where adults continue to grow emotionally and try to live life to the fullest.

There is no substitute for the home as an emotional cradle. Observations on many teenagers show that they are smart, but many of them lack emotional intelligence. To put it simpler, many of them do not know how to “read” other people - not even their own selves. It has been said that emotional intelligence refers to the ability of an individual to understand, read, and manage his or her own emotions. This can only be learned when an individual is given the time to live, work, and play with real people.

What happens today in many families is that members spend more and more time either with their online friends or their TV news and superheroes. A survey on internet use done way back in 2004 revealed a significant connection between spending time online and time spent with the family. For every hour spent online daily by an average user, he or she loses 23.5 minutes which could be spent with his or her family. Furthermore, the average surfer also gets less sleep; an average of 8.5 minutes per day for every hour spent online.

If online friends, games and TV programs become more important than the real people that family members live with, then families will suffer. Families should spend more time with “real” friends in their households. Gathering around the dinner table or taking an inexpensive family outing are just some simple ways of family bonding. Families become more cohesive when they are interacting face-to-face more often. By doing so, each member will come to appreciate each other’s real interests and know what they think and feel.

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How About a Gadget for Your Pet Dog?

More people would choose a dog rather than any other animal for a pet. Some owners find happiness owning just one, while others say “the more the better”. Whether it’s a single dog or a pack of different breeds, their owners want the best for them. Aside from the basic needs, owners would spend more for an extra amount of loving care. After all, they say that dogs are man’s best friend. Why not pamper your dog with the following pet gadgets that are both useful and practical?

The One-of-a-Kind Inflatable Dog Shower

Of course, you always want to see your dog walking around spic and span. However, unlike cats that can clean themselves, you have to be hands-on in cleaning your pet dog. Here is one gadget that can help you do the job with ease and efficiency. It is an inflatable dog shower that is made of durable, puncture resistant PVC and nylon. It inflates in just five minutes, and then you can bathe your dog all the way to the hardest-to-reach areas. You can freely control water emission at 7 different levels. Level 1 gives you a gentle stream, while level 7 is strong enough to remove your pet’s dead skin cells. It’s high enough to prevent water from spilling, and its 52” hose allows you better handling.

An Accurate Pet Scale

Do you feel that your pet dog is too fat or too skinny? Your pet’s weight is an indicator of whether or not your pet already needs a special diet. Others feel their pet’s ribs to check weight, but of course this is not reliable. Having an instrument that will show you the weight in numbers is better. This job can be done by the Pet Scale that lets you work like a real veterinarian. Instead of taking your pet to the clinic for weighing, why not buy a Pet Scale? This always comes in handy whenever you need it for your dog’s health.

The Self-Revealing Camera

You will be surprised to know what your pet dog does when he or she is alone. However, you have no way of finding out because you are not around. This secret life of your dog can now be captured even without you actually being there. The Pet’s Eye View Camera will perfectly do the job for you. Just correctly affix this small, digital camera to your pet’s collar and it will do the job. The gadget is ready to automatically take as many as 40 photos, depending on the time period that you set. Upload the photos to a computer and enjoy viewing your dog’s secret life.

These pet gadgets can guarantee satisfaction and are just right for your budget. Allow your pet enjoy life as you do. Choose your pet gadget today.

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Spokeo - for Better Online Experience

It cannot be denied that people today need to connect to the internet for different reasons. With this, they cannot escape from the demand of sharing some of their personal information online. Sites such as those for social networking or “buy and sell” allow usage only when users give a valid email address. Many users consider it a “normal” thing to share information and they forget about privacy.

There have been countless debates regarding privacy issues in the internet. Questions have been raised about some websites that gather user information from different sources. Today, some websites can tell much about a person, given only his or her name and an internet connection. They can generate other information about a person out of those that he or she shared online.

However, there are sites that have honest motives for doing this kind of job. There are those that want to help improve the online experience of users. Spokeo is an example of a website that does this. It gathers addresses, pictures of people’s homes, marital status, hobbies, and others. It then maintains a database of this information that users can access upon request.

Many other websites are into this type of business – legitimate and honest at that. To make their services available, at first they search public records, phone books, and other sources of personal information. Others find social networking sites as good sources too. Additional sources would be those sites that require users to give their email address for a certain deal.

As a service company, Spokeo is in line with creating a more efficient and user-friendly people-search engine. Its objective is to make it easy for people to locate information, especially their friends. It is committed to uphold user privacy and maintain transparency. Furthermore it assures its users that it neither gathers nor possesses private information. The backbone of its database is the collection of user information that is publicly available.

Being true to its commitment, Spokeo is gaining a reputation as an efficient and user-friendly website. Its users find it useful in locating old friends and long-lost family members, manage their online reputation, and organize their contacts’ profiles. There are two modes of subscription - users can choose between free and paid. A subscriber can get more information about a person with a paid subscription. Another thing that is good about the website is that it allows users to remove their information from the site. This generally is not offered by many other similar companies.

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Users Stand Up Against Online Fraud

Users are continuously showing an increasing consciousness about online privacy. Particularly with online fraud, they are now showing concern unlike before that they have remained passive. Alongside with this development is the need to set privacy limits whenever they go surfing. They want to maintain better control of their personal information. Online retailers shall now take the right steps to give users the protection that they need.

Users showed this emerging consciousness in a recent survey about online fraud. Two entities, one a privacy research firm and the other a fraud prevention provider joined efforts in the endeavor. The survey reported that 85% of users today worry about becoming victims of online fraud. This is a significant increase, considering that a similar survey ran previously by the same entities posted an 80% result. The survey focused on fraud areas like identity theft, credit card scams, spam, phishing, and others.

Web users are now asking retailers to improve their strategies in combating online fraud. They also urged retailers to install a system that will prevent theft of user online information. They even said that the presence of trusted sites can encourage users to be identified online. For authentication purposes, they suggested the use computer serial number, ISP, computer type and make. This is safer compared to the usual personally identifiable information like telephone number and date of birth.

Online businesses have just newly opened their doors to the reality of online fraud. Past incidents have not been properly reported although many admit that they have been victims. There is a significant increase in online transactions and activities among web surfers and retailers. Along with this increase is the attack of online criminals. These occurrences might have caused users to realize their need for protection.

Additional figures from the survey results give a clear picture of how users used to handle online fraud. Nearly one half (47%) of the 607 respondents who are regular internet users admitted that they have already been victims of fraud before. Out of these victims, only 19% took the right action of reporting the crime. Although there is a growing consciousness of fraud protection, consumer education has still to be intensified. Among others, it should be education that empowers users to take the right steps to avoid online fraud.

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GPS Technology and Privacy

Many users need not worry about privacy risks if they know what to do. The new GPS technology enables people to find their way through unfamiliar places. It is a tool that assists people in finding a restaurant or an ATM in town. As a tracking tool, privacy issues regarding GPS use have been raised. This technology is now being integrated in most models of phones and cameras. Users enjoy its features, from simple photo taking to sharing of information on the internet.

The concerns center on the risks involved with anybody being able to locate a user by accessing his or her cell phone data. Nowadays, phones can store data on the whereabouts of a person, specifically location. The phone owner’s location data can be easily mapped – where he or she had been for a period of time - with the aid of Google maps.

EXIF data, which means Exchangeable Image File, is used to store photos in GPS-enabled phones or cameras. This new annotation is embedded in almost all present-day cameras. By using EXIF, information such as shutter speed, F number, exposure compensation, ISO number, date and time the image was taken, and other information, can be stored. These however, are just information about characteristics of the stored data and do not pose problems on privacy. It is the capability of some cameras using EXIF to store GPS information on the photo that raises the concern.

Apple and Google have made public their opinion on the privacy issue. According to them, users should not pass on the responsibility of protecting their privacy to others. Even if the technology is there, users still have the final decision of whether or not to use it. Users can simply disable or enable GPS features in their phones. Google also made clear that identification numbers of each phone signal cannot be traced to a specific handset. Google assigns a unique signal for each handset as part of each policy.

Taking this premise, some groups of users do not buy the idea of not using GPS features. They say that GPS is such a useful technology that a user can make good use of it. Also, the latest apps are mostly location enabled. Not using this technology may put a user in a more disadvantaged situation.

What users can do is pressure phone manufacturers and lawmakers to set limits on the use of GPS data. On the other hand, the government should move faster in order to catch up with the fast-changing technology. Meanwhile, users must be responsible enough to protect one’s own privacy.

They can do this by setting reasonable limits on the sharing of data online, especially with GPS enabled photos. One should use his or her intelligent discretion regarding when to share photos on any website, especially social networking sites. This will make one in better control over his or her privacy.

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DEDs in the Police Force?

Data Extraction Devices (DEDs) have been used by the Michigan State Police (MSP) for some years. At present, there is an ongoing inquiry regarding its lawful use. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wants to know exactly how these devices are being used. These powerful devices can extract almost all information from cell phones. These could include contacts, photos, and yes, even those deleted messages.

These devices are being manufactured by CelleBrite. Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and other major carriers are some of the clients that the company has revealed. Specifically, the devices are used to transfer data when a phone is upgraded. CelleBrite also described the high capability of DEDs to extract a host of information from cell phones. When used properly, it can retrieve even deleted and hidden data, and can capture contact lists, photos and text messages.

Critics are not opposed to the nature and purpose of the devices, but by their use in law enforcement. The concerned groups are not sure whether the devices are lawfully used. The ACLU doubts that there is no privacy violation involved among some people that are searched. For some time, it has been urging the MSP to explain how the devices are being used. The ACLU also suspects that the tools are being used unlawfully just to obtain information from random people.

The Michigan State Police responded that it is not secretly mining out mobile data during traffic stops. In a statement, it explained how enforcers are going to use the DEDs. An officer cannot use the device if he or she either does not hold a search warrant or has not obtained consent from the holder of the mobile device. Furthermore, only a specialty team can use the device on criminal cases, such as crime against children.

The MSP was pushed to use DEDs because of the continuing increase in the number of crimes using cell phones. DEDs, it said, are effective investigative tools for obtaining critical information from criminals. These are the reasons given by the Michigan State Police for purchasing and using such devices. The devices were bought by the MSP in 2006.

A government official expressed his approval in setting well-defined limits as to the lawful use of the devices. However, according to him, the limits should not cover cell phones that are involved in the commission of crimes. This implies that identified criminals should not enjoy the same benefits of privacy as those of law-abiding citizens.

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