[ PFIR ] Google announces opt-out for wi-fi location database, but beware of possible side effects
Google announces opt-out for wi-fi location database, but beware of possible side effects http://j.mp/uWyC6Y (This message on Google+) It's late, and I have to knock off for the night, but I wanted to quickly note a posting Google made on their official blog late Monday evening, relating to a new procedure for opting-out of their wi-fi location database: http://j.mp/rROZ3F (Official Google Blog) In brief, they're asking wi-fi owners who want to opt-out to change their SSIDs (essentially, the broadcast name of wi-fi access points) to include a suffix of _nomap. I understand why Google has chosen this route -- if an opt-in method were used only a tiny fraction of persons would likely ever adopt it, and wi-fi mapping does provide notable precision benefits to map users. Having said that, it isn't clear to me how practical it really is to expect significant numbers of people to be willing to change their SSID on this basis. One problem, probably minor but worth noting, is that this actually could be seen as drawing attention to yourself. Anyone scanning the area and seeing certain SSIDs with the _nomap suffix might wonder *why* those particular persons were so interested in not being mapped. Like I said, probably not a big deal. But a much more crucial issue is this. If you do change your SSID, you're likely going to have to reconfigure every client device you have that already knows that SSID, because your altered SSID is going to look like an entirely different access point. This will probably mean re-inputting your (hopefully WPA2, but perhaps WPA or even [ugh] WEP) passwords, and doing this for everything that previously knew that original SSID without the _nomap suffix. More on this later. Good night. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lau...@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com ___ pfir mailing list http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
[ PFIR ] Google, Facebook, Zynga, and others come out in opposition of SOPA
Google, Facebook, Zynga, and others come out in opposition of SOPA http://j.mp/szPEg2 (CNET) They sent a letter last night to key members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, saying the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, pose a serious risk to our industry's continued track record of innovation and job creation, as well as to our nation's cybersecurity. - - - It's impossible for me to overstate my support of this and other efforts to derail SOPA and its similarly disastrous brethren. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lau...@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com ___ pfir mailing list http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
[ PFIR ] The Other Shoe Drops: Massive Coalition Forms to Oppose ICANN TLD Expansion
The Other Shoe Drops: Massive Coalition Forms to Oppose ICANN TLD Expansion 87 Major Assns. and Businesses Join with ANA to Form Coalition to Oppose ICANN's TLD Expansion Program Eighty-seven major national and international business associations and companies have joined forces with the ANA (Association of National Advertisers), forming the Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight (CRIDO) to oppose the rollout of ICANN's top-level domain expansion program. Among the many influential members of CRIDO are the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Society of Association Executives, the National Restaurant Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, the American Council of Life Insurers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). The WFA represents a global network of 51 advertiser associations representing some 90 percent of global marketing communications spending, equivalent to $700 billion annually. On behalf of its many constituencies and industries, CRIDO is committed to aggressively fighting ICANN's proposed program, citing its deeply flawed justification, excessive cost and harm to brand owners, likelihood of predatory cyber harm to consumers and failure to act in the public interest, a core requirement of its commitment to the U.S. Department of Commerce. - - - One word: EXCELLENT. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lau...@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com ___ pfir mailing list http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
[ PFIR ] More on Google's Wi-Fi Location Database Opt-Out
More on Google's Wi-Fi Location Database Opt-Out http://j.mp/s9vABx (This message on Google+) I received a pile of mail this morning in response to my quick discussion of Google's new Wi-Fi location database opt-out procedures last night: http://j.mp/uWyC6Y (Google+) [My discussion of possible opt-out side effects] Before I continue, a couple of quick notes: First, I'm on record as considering Wi-Fi SSID (ID beacon) data and related location databases as not being a big deal. Let's face it, they're transmitting on public airwaves, and anyone who happens by in range can record them and note where they were received. Google was unreasonably pilloried for the Wi-Fi data they collected accidentally in the course of Street View operations. Secondly, while you can turn off your SSID on most Wi-Fi access points, doing so may cause association problems with some clients, and the lack of broadcast SSID doesn't really increase intrinsic security anyway. OK. Now to the inbox. The distilled summary of the vast majority of messages I received on this topic amounted to this: Why the blazes should I have to screw around with my Wi-Fi network and change my SSID by adding that silly _nomap thing, and have to reconfigure all my clients using that access point as well? Why should the burden be on me to make such a permanent change to opt-out? Various people also noted concerns about the _nomap suffix attracting unwanted attention -- one drew a comparison with putting /private in your robots.txt file. As I noted yesterday, I don't feel that the attention attracting aspect of _nomap is particularly onerous, but obviously there are some folks who are much more concerned about this aspect. A more fundamental question people posed to me was why this has been set up as opt-out and not opt-in. I'm not privy to Google's deliberations on this, but I can take a good guess. If it was opt-in you'd get only a tiny fraction of people likely doing so, and the useful mapping data that could otherwise be derived from publicly transmitted Wi-Fi SSIDs would be unnecessarily and largely stymied. Opt-in vs. opt-out issues are often much more subtle than they may appear to be at first glance, sometimes with unexpected collateral effects. Especially given that Wi-Fi SSIDs are publicly transmitted, I believe a reasonable case for the opt-out model can be made in regards to the location database, though no doubt some observers will disagree with me on this. I am less enthusiastic about the specific _nomap suffix SSID approach, however. It seems unwieldy (and frankly, somewhat ugly) at best, especially because a permanent, highly visible change is required by this model by everyone who wants to opt-out. While I appreciate the authentication issues that have likely driven Google to choose this approach, I believe that less intrusive (and not continually visible) methodologies may be possible, perhaps involving a one-time registration opt-out database linking SSIDs and access point MAC addresses. This is definitely a very interesting topic area. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lau...@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com ___ pfir mailing list http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
[ PFIR ] Feds want to make sure lying about your age on the Net is criminalized
Feds want to make sure lying about your age on the Net is criminalized http://j.mp/tkDGcc (NPR) In English? When you sign up for a Web service, a dating one or even to attain the ability to comment on NPR.org, you usually agree to a long terms of service that we bet most people don't even read. The way the DOJ wants the law interpreted means breaking any of those terms would constitute a crime. - - - How old are you again? Where do you live? What is your sex? Prosecutors have far too much power already to arbitrarily decide who to prosecute, and who to ignore. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lau...@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com ___ pfir mailing list http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
[ PFIR ] Google's Eric Schmidt blasts SOPA, but at the hearing, the fix is already in!
Google's Eric Schmidt blasts SOPA, but at the hearing, the fix is already in! http://j.mp/tf3dLh (Reuters/Huffington) The solutions are draconian, Schmidt said during an appearance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. There's a bill that would require (Internet service providers) to remove URLs from the Web, which is also known as censorship last time I checked. - - - Only *one* person against SOPA -- from Google -- is being permitted to speak at the hearing on Wednesday. Everyone else will be proponents of the legislation. The Fix Is In. Reference: The Coming Fascist Internet: http://j.mp/uc70Lp (Lauren's Blog) --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lau...@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com ___ pfir mailing list http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
