Internet Privacy Acts and Laws

There are different types of laws and regulations which vary from a state to another. In this blog, I would like to mention the two act which I believe it is very important to have knowledge about which are The Children Online Privacy and The e-Reader Privacy. The children online privacy and it will be effective on January 1^st, 2015. “California's Privacy Rights for California Minors in the Digital World Act, also called the "eraser" bill, will permit minors to remove, or to request and obtain removal of, content or information posted on an Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application. It also prohibits an operator of a Web site or online service directed to minors from marketing or advertising to minors specified products or services that minors are legally prohibited from buying.”

    Also the e-Reader Privacy act is provided by two states which are Arizona and California. In the state of Arizona, Ariz. Rev. Stat. 41-151.22, the law is, “a library or library system supported by public monies shall not allow disclosure of any record or other information which, including e-books, that identifies a user of library services as requesting or obtaining specific materials or services or as otherwise using the library.”
Where the states of California law is, Cal. Govt. Code 6267, “Protects a library patron's use records, such as written records or electronic transaction that identifies a patron's borrowing information or use of library information resources, including, but not limited to, database search records, borrowing records, class records, and any other personally identifiable uses of library resources information requests, or inquiries.” 

Written By: Mohammed Bin Ahmed

Sourves:

 http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/state-laws-related-to-internet-privacy.aspx

The biggest online privacy risks in 2013

      Internet is the most important thing in our life. We need this for our life, study even shopping.  As the development of our society, the risks of Internet privacy have been a big issuer of the Internet. There are three biggest Internet privacy risks in 2013.

·         Cookies are proliferating.  A cookie, also known as an HTTP cookie, or browser cookie, is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored in a user's web browser while the user is browsing that website.  It must have cookies when we using any Internet browser. A single site that might deposit on or two cookies on our laptop or PC.  People may track you from those cookie that deposit in your laptop or PC. They may know which web site you open a lot and know your personal habits.  The hacker can track your laptop or PC using whose cookies. The DO Not Track option in any web browser isn’t going to help you at all.

·         The government is in your cloud. According to Gartner, 36 percent of consumer content will be stored in the cloud by 2016. Cloud is like online memory card.  You can access your personal cloud anywhere that has Internet. People may put some music and video in their cloud. But right not, people may put some personal information or important personal documents in the cloud also. There have not a strong protection about this kind of information in cloud right now. This is still a leak in U.S law: Online data is exempt from traditional Fourth Amendment protection. The "unreasonable search and seizure" clause of the Constitution only applies to property that is in your possession, such as on your computer's hard drive. Data stored in the cloud gets no such built-in protection.

·         You can be tracked. If you are being tracked; however, you really don’t know about this. People can track your location though any of your social network. In many of the social network like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, they may post your location while you’re posting your pictures or any kind of personal status. 

Written By: Qi Shi
Sources:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-biggest-online-privacy-risks-for-2013/

SIX WAYS YOUR ONLINE PRIVACY IS AT RISK

    Internet is not a safety place. We can’t put too much personal information on the Internet right now. People can find you and track you from your Facebook, Twitter, or any kind of network.  Six ways of internet privacy risks are influence our privacy.

·         Unwanted Disclosure—People may get to your information that you didn’t want everyone to see. And also people may lose their jobs because of the information that post on Facebook or any kind of network. Even you set the pictures or videos that not everyone can see the pictures or videos that you post online, but people still can see those pictures or videos somehow.

·         Surveillance—People may see your personal life though the Internet without their knowledge.  They don’t know why they can see so much information about you thought the Internet and sometimes you even don’t know who can see those pictures or personal information though the Internet. 

·         Instability-The online data policies may change periodically. None of the Internet companies that can guarantee the rule of data policies may not change tomorrow. Some Internet companies that sell your personal information to the third parties. This is called secondary use of data. In this case, no one can guaranteed the purpose of collected data that how will use in the Internet network

·         Spillovers—in many ways that the personal information may lead to the third party. For example, Facebook's "friend of a friend" feature potentially exposes personal data to third parties. One pernicious use of this type of data is by unscrupulous marketers who mine their friends' networks for business prospects.

·         Denigration—also we can see some negative representation of reputation in any kind of Internet side.  Many of them are not true. Some people will distortion the fact, and put wrong information online. Just like you may tagging of photos in Facebook or any kind of social network. By some accident you may tag the person in the wrong position of the photo. Or posting negative information on someone’s profile page.

Disagreement-people like to share information online right now, but a lot of people do it in wrong way. Like Facebook allows people to tag other person in photos. We need make sure the name tag in every photo that is one hundred present clear. Most of time, there has so many people in one photo that people may not give the right position of each person in the photo.  Wrong person tag or wrong photo will give the person who sees this photo a lot of disagreement.

Written By: Qi Shi
Sources:http://www.fastcompany.com/1723915/six-ways-your-online-privacy-risk

Simple Tips for Safer Online Shopping

There is a lot of anxiety surrounding the protection of your private information while shopping online. Keeping your privacy online seems like a stressful force with which you have no tools to take preventive action. In fact there are indeed some simple things that a person can do to protect themselves.

You probably don’t turn your computer off often enough. By leaving your computer connected to the internet all day and night you give scammers continuous access to your computer. Turning off your computer is a simple daily task that you can do to help protect your privacy online.

Another important thing to consider for protecting yourself online is choosing a strong password for your online shopping accounts. Considering passwords that are long and unique to you will make your account information more secure. You should never respond to any emails that request your password and other personal information.

In case of concerns of fraudulent activity in online shopping accounts every online shopper should know where they can make a compliant. Knowing this information is helpful to flag any suspicious users or transactions.

These considerations may seem small, but they are not trivial. Every online shopper should take these precautions to help protect their privacy and make their online shopping experience safer.

Written By: Ahmed Almusa
ٍSources:

https://www.staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/protect-your-personal-information/online-shopping

http://www.today.com/id/17920302/ns/today-money/t/protect-yourself-when-buying-stuff-online/

Online Shopping

         Online Shopping is a form of commerce that allows a customer to purchase a certain good or service over the Internet. Michael Aldrich invented online shopping in 1979 with the idea to use technology as a way to provide for the consumer. Nowadays, anyone with access to the internet and a valid method of payment can complete a transaction online. Most people use credit cards or a PayPal account that contains personal information to pay for the purchase and the item is then delivered in a certain amount of days.

     As seen in the chart below, in regards to Internet Privacy concerns, shopping online has a higher percentage than that of other online activities such as using social networks, banking online, email, and mobile apps. People fear that it could be very easy for criminals to hack into their online shopping accounts and steal private information such as: credit card numbers, name, address, etc. The names and email addresses of many different online shoppers and credit card users have been accessed illegally and used for various different things. People worry about identity theft, or that someone can steal all of their information. There are even a few cases of people actually being tracked through the information that was made available.  The market of online shopping is growing rapidly and keeping the privacy of personal information through online shopping has become a very important issue that people need to be made aware of. What are your thoughts? Do you often online shop and if so, are these issues addressed in your mind?

Written By: Ahmed Almusa Sources:
1. http://trends.e-strategyblog.com/2013/01/29/americans-online-privacy-concerns/7737
2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_shopping#Privacy

How to Protect your Identity

Many people fail to pay attention to securing their personal information in the right way and a few unfortunate people end up getting their identity stolen which could create a disaster that will take a long time to fix and report. In this blog I will be talking about specific ways to insure that your identity will be safe at all times if these instructions are followed.

First keeping your personal information secure offline:

By keeping your financial information and personal information such as bank accounts and social security number locked in a safe.

You should always ask people why they need the information they are asking for when applying for jobs and etc and always ask how they will safeguard and how they will use the information.

Safely dispose written documents that thief's might find useful by shredding it or burning it.

Second keeping your personal information secure online:

By being alert and aware of impersonators who might try to act like an employee or agent to collect information.

Safely disposing your personal computer or mobile device by removing all personal information before you get rid of it.

Encrypt your data by making sure to use encryption programs to scramble your personal information when it is posted on the internet.

Third securing your social security number:

To be safe when giving a company your social security number, ask these following questions before giving your information:

*Why they need it?

*How it will be used?

*How they will protect it?

*What happens if you dont share the number?

note that a lot of companies will not provide their service for you unless you provide them your social security number.

Fourth keep your devices secure:

*Use security soft wear such as anti-virus and anti-spy wear soft wear.

*Avoid phishing emails that contain viruses and avoid clicking on adds.

*Be wise about using public wireless networks when sharing your personal information.

*Lock your laptop/smartphone with a strong password.

*Read privacy policies.

Written by: Majed Alnahidh

Source: <http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0272-how-keep-your-personal-information-secure>

Facts you may not know about internet privacy

One of the most common mistakes people seem to make when they use social networking websites is that they use their real name as their user name and that is the fastest way to reveal your privacy because you can be searchable by anyone in the world that has seen/heard of your name.

The other set of people who are putting their selfs at risk are the those who are using their real names as their user name and they also do not bother to edit their privacy settings which means that they are like an open book to anyone coming across their online profile and the information it may include.

A lot of people also post too much personal information that is some times unnecessary to share such as favorite color, address, phone number and even their address. this is one of the biggest mistakes that people commit often. Another thing people should be aware of is posting something like “Having a great time at The Cheesecake Factory” for example this sentence may seem harmless but it may give someone the knowledge of exactly where or how much time he/she has to harm you or your personal property.

The most common mistake that people commit surely is agreeing to the terms and policies of a social network without even thinking about “actually reading it”. This is because people are too lazy or don't have time to sit and read 20 pages of sophisticated text. Unfortunately some of the terms and policies include sharing your personal information with third party companies for them to take advantage of it in anyway they would like.

Written by: Majed Alnahidh

Source: <http://www.guardi.us/10-frightening-facts-about-your-privacy-on-the-internet/>

Government's Surveillance and Social Networks

Have you ever thought about who might be monitoring your social network profile between times to time? or about your last Facebook message is being reviewed by someone in the govern? Well, you wouldn’t be mistaken if you considered that.

In 2012, the Department of Homeland securities spend more than 11 billion to monitor social networks profiles.  The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is the firm hired by the government to control social media contents. Under the Freedom of Information Act, they have rights to access information about a wide search area. As the director of EPIC’s open government project said “the agency is monitoring constantly, under very broad search terms, and is not limiting that monitoring to event or activates related to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or manmade disasters”.

 

In fact, Homeland Security include in their search key lists words like “exercise”,” wave”,” initiation”, and “relief”, all of which are not directly related or perceived to be connected to any type of national security threat or criminal activities. However is magnifies the power the government agency has against Internet users privacy rights.  This kind of power could be dangerous if it used in an inappropriate way. However, most of social networks CEOs and owners have not been happy with such regulations and trying to reduce government control by fighting these regulations in courts and by exposing statists of government requests for users data in order to encourage the public to be in their side. In addition, social networks don’t usually respond to all government requests and sometime choose not to give out information if the government has no justifiable reason for getting this information.  For instance, Facebook compliance rate varies from country to another. The United States has the highest compliance rate of 79% while UK has a rate of 68, and India with 50%.

Written By: Abdullah Aljarallah

Citation:

Rushe, Dominic. "Facebook Reveals Governments Asked for Data on 38,000 Users in 2013."Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 28 Aug. 2013. Web. <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/27/facebook-government-user-requests>.

 

Stone, Andrea. "Homeland Security Manual Lists Government Key Words For Monitoring Social Media, News." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Feb. 2012. Web. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/24/homeland-security-manual_n_1299908.html>.

 

Johnson, Bryana. "Why Is the Government Monitoring Social Media Networks?" Washington Times Communities. N.p., 28 Feb. 2012. Web. <http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/high-tide-and-turn/2012/feb/28/why-government-monitoring-social-media-networks/>.

Social Networks and Financial Institutions.

Many firms are working in new computer software capable of gathering, and analyzing data from social networks profiles and connecting this information with other records of people in order to determine the creditworthiness of loan applicants. Banks will ask loan customers for their social media profile names to know their online friends and checking their credit history and financial status as a way to make decision to accept or reject loans requests. This could make some customers pay the price of their online friends bad credit history. For example, if someone with adequate job tries to get a bank loan but most of his social networks friends are struggling financially and not paying their debts on time most likely would be rejected by the bank since the later perceives a potential risk of financial irresponsibility.

On the other hand, banks are trying to utilize such software to locate and attract potential profitable customers. By checking good credit history clients’ friends on social networks, banks market their services to new customers who are perceived to be profitable and have a low risk profiles. Moreover, many Internet websites are developing different models to assess people credit scores.  Websites like Credit Report, Privacy Guard, and Free Score 360 are among the top credit score websites. They use algorithms and mathematical equation to create credit score software’s. Financial firms have started developing models in this field since 2010 and it’s expected that by 2015 this technology will be used in the majority of banks and credit reporting companies.

Written by: Abdullah Aljarallah

Source:

Jeffries, Adrianne. "BetaBeat." Betabeat As Banks Start Nosing Around Facebook and Twitter the Wrong Friends Might Just Sink YourCredit Comments. N.p., 13 Dec. 2011. Web. <http://betabeat.com/2011/12/as-banks-start-nosing-around-facebook-and-twitter-the-wrong-friends-might-just-sink-your-credit/>.

Issues faced by Internet privacy

There are a lot of issues and concerns that faces the internet privacy such as hacking, scamming, and data leaking. One of the most dangerous problems that faces the internet privacy is hacking. Hacking is unethical or sometimes illegal act of an individual or a group of individuals who hacks a system or a website in order to destroy or steal certain types of information. There are different reasons for hackers to hack; for example, seeking for a profit, a way of protesting in any kind. Also, scamming is one of the most popular issues that faces internet privacy. Scamming is the act of fraud, and scammers usually pretend to be an official website in order to steal someone's money, information, and/or identity. For example, a scammers sends a link to someone such as a survey, an email, a website, or any kind of communication type in order to have him or her to fill out their personal information such as name, credit card number, social security number, email address, etc. Why? They either seek to steal money or steal valuable information. Finally, the data leaking process start when a person register into a website and do not apply the privacy settings. As a result, all of his or her information become available to the public and anyone or everyone are able to take them or use them such as pictures, phone numbers, extra. The most common example is social network such as Facebook.

Internet privacy definition

     Internet privacy is a partial of the internet settings and security that involves protecting the sharing information and personal data through the online use. Privacy is a concern and a global issue started when the internet first invented. If a user uses the computer to connect with the outside world, there is a huge chance that he or she might share or publish data and/or personal information with or without his knowledge.