Can Your GPS Lead a Stranger to Your Door?

Nowadays, almost everyone has a GPS.  As you drive down the highways and back roads, just about every car you see has one attached to the windshield.  Some newer models of cars come with the GPS as either a standard feature or an option.  A GPS doesn’t only tell you how to get where you’re going; it also tells you when you should be arriving.   If one of the roads you need is closed, or if traffic is unusually heavy, the GPS will tell you which detour to take.  For these reasons, I’m addicted to my GPS, just like millions of other people.

Yes, the GPS is a huge part of our lives, but do we ever think about how we can be risking our safety by using it?  Think of all the information about you that a criminal can get just by looking through your GPS’s “Favorite Places”.   Below is a scenario that is played over and over all over the country:

You just got a promotion at your job.  Along with this came a very large raise, so, to celebrate, you and your husband go out for a night on the town.  Your first stop is that new nightclub that opened a few weeks ago because a band that you both love is playing there.   You know the address, but aren’t sure how to get there, so you program it into your GPS.  You get to the club and hand your car over to the valet so you don’t have to walk unfamiliar streets to find it later.  If you have an in-dash GPS, it’s all but forgotten, but if you have a portable GPS, you stash it in the glove box so it’s out of sight.

Maybe your husband comments about the band and how long it’s been since you’ve both been to one of their concerts.  You tell him that you can’t wait and will savor every minute until the club closes and you are forced to leave.  During this conversation, the valet has heard every word.  He also noticed where you put your portable GPS, or that you didn’t turn off your in-dash GPS.  Who is this person that you just handed your car to?  Does he have a criminal background?  Well, whoever this person is, he now knows your plans for the entire evening.

The valet is doing a quick scan of your keys as you are walking into the club.  He notices that you are like thousands of others who keep their house keys on the same key ring as your car key.  He then takes your car and parks it.  He reaches for your GPS and scans your list of “Favorite Places”.  He hits the jackpot when he sees an entry listed as “Home”.

Which Would You Choose: Privacy or Security?

Carnegie Mellon University’s Pedo-Biometrics Lab in Pittsburgh, PA has a joint project with a Canadian company, Autonomous ID.  The project is a security scanner that is built into the in-soles of shoes.  These in-soles will be used at high security companies, power plants and military bases to screen employees attempting to gain access to high risk areas.

The idea for this type of device came to Todd Gray, President of Autonomous ID, when he visited his daughter right after she gave birth.  Gray noticed that the walls of the maternity ward were decorated with the footprints of all the babies who were born there.  When he saw this, he realized that each person’s footprints were as unique as their fingerprints.  To start the project, Gray paid $1.5 million to Pedo-Biometrics Lab.  

Security or privacy?  The choice is yours.

These special in-soles will have sensors that measure the amount of pressure each step places on specific areas.   Height, weight and gait are all factors used to make these measurements.   When an employee is fitted with these in-soles, he or she will walk around so his or her data can be stored in a master file located in microcomputers.  From this master file, security clearance level will be confirmed.  If confirmed, access to the area will be granted; a silent alarm will be triggered if the employee does not have clearance.   

Preliminary tests that were run on in-sole samples demonstrated that there is an accuracy rate of 99% after only three steps.  Further tests are taking place that will take such factors as dieting, athleticism and nationality into account.  Tests will also be done on fraternal and identical twins.  Mr. Gray is of the opinion that there is less of a privacy risk to these in-soles as opposed to eye scans. 

Attorney Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) doesn’t fully agree with that opinion.    “Every biometric capture device is a potential tracking device, just like every iPhone is a potential tracking device.  That’s just the way things are.” is the statement made by Mr. Tien.  He did, however, feel that the in-soles “might make a person feel a little bit better” about their security.  Another positive point Tien made was that the identification accuracy rate of 99% after merely three steps is “pretty impressive”.

Can you be tracked without consent?

There was a negative side that Tien saw:  these in-soles could be inserted into an employee’s shoes without his knowledge or consent.  In this respect, they could be considered a “spy tool”.

Thinking about all the pros and cons, I can’t imagine allowing my employer to know everywhere I go, even on my time off from work.  I would simply feel like I was being stalked.  I’m not willing to give up my privacy like that.

Privacy is our greatest asset and we should not be willing to risk it.  Learn how to protect yourself both on line and off by taking a few minutes to download the free Internet Privacy Guide at the top of this page.  Isn’t it worth a few minutes to learn how to keep your privacy safe?

Will You Sign Up For Facedeals?

Facedeals will offer you "specials" by facial recognition

My morning ritual begins with turning on my TV to catch the news.  One story this morning really grabbed my attention in a very disturbing way.  It was about a new technology called “Facedeals”, which could be one of the more frightening apps to come our way.

RedPepper Labs, a development group headquartered in Nashville, TN has just announced its latest entry into the world of digital technology.  They call it Facedeals, and the testing has begun.  As I was listening to this story, I started to be concerned about how this could put everyone’s privacy at risk.  Facedeals will be connected to your Facebook account and will use facial recognition to pinpoint your location whenever you enter your favorite shops and restaurants.

Unlike FourSquare, where you physically have to enter your location, the only action you need to complete with Facedeals is to walk in the door.  As you approach the door, a camera placed outside the shop will scan your face and link it to Facebook’s application program interface (or API) and associate it with your “Likes” so that shop will be able to offer you discounts and other deals accordingly.

Before this app can scan you, you must approve it through your Facebook settings, which at least gives you some control.  If you choose to approve Facedeals, you will be asked to scan one of the newest photos you have of yourself.  After that, each time you enter a business that has a Facedeals camera at the door, that business will know you are there, will know the Facebook “Likes” you have that are relevant to that business, and you will be sent special offers to your cell phone within seconds.

Since installation of these cameras doesn’t require anything more than a wall outlet and WiFi connection, they can be place anywhere.  For now, the test area is limited to Nashville, Tennessee, but RedPepper is hoping to soon expand the area.

It’s too soon to tell how quickly Facedeals will be accepted by the public.  Personally, I can’t imagine that a large amount of people would be willing to be “followed” around like this.  I know that I would feel as if I were being stalked, so I will not be approving this app.  My privacy is too important to me to have strangers know my “Likes” when it comes to everything from fashion sense to favorite meals.

Privacy is such a valuable asset.  Learn how to avoid risk by downloading the free Internet Privacy Guide at the top of the page.  After all, keeping your privacy safe is well worth the few minutes it takes to download the Guide.

So, You Think You Can’t Be Hacked?

I’m a Customer Service Representative at Private Proxy.  Every day, I speak with people about Internet privacy issues.  Most of the people I speak with feel that they cannot be hacked because they are careful.  They know all about identity theft, but are sure that it won’t happen to them.  That’s when I ask them if they ever use the free, public WiFi in hotspots like Starbucks and Panera.  I then tell them how they can be jeopardizing their Internet privacy by giving them this example:

You are in a store making a small purchase and your credit card is denied.  You don’t think anything of it, and swipe another card.  That one, too, is denied.  Now you start to wonder what’s up, so you call the credit card companies.   When you speak to Customer Service, you are told that your cards are maxed out.  These cards aren’t used that much and you always pay your bills in full as soon as they’re due, so how could you be maxed out?  You ask for copies of your transaction reports so you can see where the problem is.

You get your reports and, sure enough, not only are the cards maxed out, they are each over the credit limit!  Big problem!  As you look at the transactions, you see purchases made in stores you never heard of.  These purchases include gaming systems, computers and flat-screen TVs.  There was even a vacation at a Tahitian resort on there.  None of these purchases were made by you, so you call the card companies again and cancel those two cards.  Just to be on the safe side, you also cancel your other credit cards and bank card.

For the life of you, you can’t understand how this could be happening.  After wracking your brain trying to think of when you last used these credit cards, you remember that a couple of weeks before, you used both cards shopping on-line while you were taking your lunch hour at Panera.  Since this is a free public hotspot, everyone can use it.  Because it’s for the public to use, the data stream isn’t encrypted, so anyone with computer knowledge and the right software can intercept your data stream and get hold of your username, password and credit card information.   Mystery solved, but how do you stop it from happening again?

Well, for starters, you should download our Internet Privacy Guide.  When you read this, you will learn how your identity can and will be stolen.  When you learn of all that could go wrong, it would help you tremendously to take part in our FREE trial of Private Proxy.  It’s very easy to understand how the product works and it’s also easy to use.  You will have a choice of many servers, all using encryption to keep your data safe from cyber-crooks.

Protect Your Internet Identity!

Today’s Tech-Savvy Youth

Children today are becoming more and more tech savvy.  Everywhere you go, you see toddlers holding toy cell phones, or “working” on toy computers that are loaded with learning games.  Parents bring portable DVD players on car trips or to restaurants in order to keep the kids entertained.   These devices, marketed for young children, are seen more and more.  It seems that technology is taking over not only our lives, but the lives of our kids.

Classes on basic computer operations are being held in pre-schools.   When children reach elementary school age, they should not only know how to operate a computer, but they should also know how to access the Internet and conduct web searches.  The rising cost of textbooks has made it impossible for schools to purchase a book for every class for each child.   Now, to save costs, they are having the students download e-textbooks from the schools’ websites.   Each school’s website also doubles as an on-line community where students can “speak” to each other.   Teachers volunteer to tutor after hours on the website, so if students are having difficulties with a homework assignment or a particular subject in general, they can get help. 

At the beginning of the new school year, or at the end of the old school year, the schools will send memos to the parents on which computers or laptops to purchase.   This is to insure that the students have the equipment that meets the system requirements for downloads, etc.  The schools will also advise the parents of where these computers can be purchased at the best possible price.  Some may even offer coupons for a limited time.

Microsoft Announces Change To “Do Not Track”

Internet Explorer Version 10 will soon be available and when it is, it comes with an update to the “Do Not Track” feature.  Microsoft just announced that when this new version is released, “Do Not Track” will no longer have to be manually enabled by the user; it will be a default setting.   In earlier versions, a user would have to go into their settings to enable “Do Not Track”, now, it will be done automatically.  However, even when “Do Not Track” is enabled, any advertisements on the Microsoft ad network ignore the signals.  What this means to users is that they won’t be tracked by ads on networks OTHER than Microsoft.  It’s interesting that this default “Do Not Track” works to Microsoft’s advantage.

Many groups do not agree with Microsoft making “Do Not Track” a default setting.  They feel that since Microsoft was involved in the development of the “Do Not Track” principles, they should understand that this should be a user preference, not a default setting.  The advertisers who do not agree with Microsoft will probably choose to ignore any “Do Not Track” signals.

For a long time, Microsoft has been trying to compete with Google’s success in online advertising.  At one point, Microsoft even attempted to buy Yahoo in order to boost their success.  Now that “Do Not Track” will become a default setting, there are some in the online advertising industry who claim that this is yet another ploy by Microsoft to damage Google’s status.

The World Wide Web Consortium’s Tracking Protection Group was one that was stunned by Microsoft’s decision.  “Do Not Track” policies are being formed by the Tracking Protection Group.   However, according to Aleecia M. McDonald, Co-Chair of the TPG, they had no idea what Microsoft was planning until the announcement was made.  

Not only is Ms. McDonald the Co-Chair of the TPG, she is also working for Mozilla, part-time, as a privacy researcher.  She feels that the Microsoft announcement is forcing an immediate action on the “Do Not Track” issue.  Mozilla’s Privacy and Public Lead Person, Alex Fowler, is yet another person who rejects Microsoft’s plan.  In his rejection, he references the World Wide Web Consortium’s report that states that in order for “Do Not Track” to work effectively, it must be based on user preference.  In a blog, Mr. Fowler stated:  “If DNT is on by default, it’s not a conversation.  For DNT to be effective, it must actually represent the user’s voice.”   By making “Do Not Track” a default setting, the user would lose control.

However, the concept of “Do Not Track” as a default setting was not rejected by all.  There are some lawmakers and policy-makers who agree that this is a good idea.

Cookies? What are They? Can I Avoid Them?

 We’ve all heard about “cookies”, but not everyone knows what they are.  Sometimes, they’re called “HTTP cookies”, “browser cookies” or “web cookies”.  Sometimes, they’re just “cookies”.  It doesn’t matter what name you call them; cookies are what websites use to store and identify actions performed by people on their browsers.  Each time a person uses their computer to read a news article, log into a website, shop online, or even if that person simply clicks the “Like” button on Facebook, that person’s information is stored on those sites for an indefinite amount of time.  This is why, when you log into your favorite sites, you no longer have to input your personal information.  The visits are “remembered” by the browser, so your “username”, and even your password, automatically pop up.  You can delete these cookies, but sometimes, even deleting them won’t ensure your safety on the internet.

Websites using “tracking cookies” and “third-party tracking cookies” caused significant privacy concerns, prompting lawmakers in the US and Europe to take a stand against the use of cookies.  Cookies do not carry “viruses”, nor do they install malicious software (or malware) on computers, but they DO store the browsing and purchasing histories of internet users for many, many years.  According to privacy advocates, this is not acceptable.

There are many different kinds of cookies.  They all perform particular tasks, but they all center on storing sensitive information.  Examples of cookies are as follows:

• Session Cookies stay on the computer only as long as the user is on a certain website.  Normally, the browser deletes these cookies as soon as the session is finished.

• Third-Party Cookies are used by advertisers to gather information in order to build a detailed profile on a specific user.  For example:  if a user signs into a site that was targeted by an advertisement, then signs into another site which has the same targeted advertisement, both visits are tracked by the advertiser. 

• Authentication Cookies are said to be the most important kind of cookie.  These cookies are used by servers to identify if a user is logged on.  These cookies can also identify which specific account the computer is logged onto.  With this device, the website recognizes if it is safe to transmit personal information.  If the user cannot be identified by the cookie, a “You Must Log In” message is shown.  If a website or browser does not have a high security level, it’s possible that the user’s information could be captured by hackers.  In other words, authentication cookies are only as safe as the user’s browser and website being logged into.