Privacy

New Privacy Tutorial Explains Settings on Your Facebook Profile Page, But What Personal Information Does the Website Keep?

Facebook has launched Privacy Basics, a click-through tutorial that shows what people can see from your profile.

Why Facebook Apologized to the LGBT Community

The social media company apologized for deleting the profiles of various drag performers and other LGBT people and promised changes to its name policy. However, the policy will stand.

Twitter Policy Online 2014: Company Offers Option to Remove Images of Deceased Family Members

Following Robin William's death and now the beheading of James Foley, Twitter is trying to reign in its free-for-all media dissemination ability to respect family members of the deceased.

Social Media Saturday: Facebook and Foursquare Unbundle Their Apps, While Twitter Drops Bing Translate

This week in social media, both Facebook and Foursquare implemented a piece of their separate-app strategy -- both leading to some controversy. Meanwhile, Twitter quietly removed Bing translation, a feature it added in time for the World Cup this year, likely because it wasn't really ready for prime time.

This One Snowden Leak Shows Why You Should Care About Every NSA Revelation

Over the weekend, a new detail about the NSA was published, and it shows why every previous NSA revelation leaked by Edward Snowden is relevant and important to everyone.

A Year Since Edward Snowden: The Five Most Important Things to Know — Part 2

A year ago, Glenn Greenwald at The Guardian published the first of what would become an avalanche of leaks from ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden about the U.S. National Security Agency and the modern world of digital surveillance and spying. Here are the five most important takeaways from a year that changed our perspective on our privacy in the digital age — part 2.

A Year Since Edward Snowden: The Five Most Important Things to Know — Part 1

A year ago, Glenn Greenwald at The Guardian published the first of what would become an avalanche of leaks from ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden about the U.S. National Security Agency and the modern world of digital surveillance and spying. Here are the five most important takeaways from a year that changed our perspective on our privacy in the digital age.

Governments From Several Countries Have Direct Access to Tap Calls, Vodafone Says

Vodafone, the world's second largest phone carrier after China Mobile, has released a privacy report that reveals several governments have direct access to its communication networks.

Social Media Saturday: Facebook Starts Listening and Reminds Us of Privacy, While Twitter Is Dying on Wall Street

This week in social media, Facebook added a Shazam-like feature that can automatically tag music, TV or movies in status updates, just by listening in to your life. Speaking of listening in, Facebook also changed some of its privacy settings for the better with a reminder for users what privacy level their status updates are set to. Also, Twitter's having a bad week on Wall Street (again) while both it and rival Instagram are meeting resistance abroad.

Social Media Saturday: Pinterest, a Serious Competitor; Foursquare Releases Swarm; Yahoo Buys Its Own Snapchat Clone

This week in social media, Pinterest emerged as a serious competitor in the social media industry. Meanwhile, Foursquare rolled out its new Swarm app, Yahoo bought a Snapchat clone called Blink, Snapchat itself was named one of the worst companies for data privacy, Twitter almost got banned in Russia, and Facebook tested a new location-based notification system that's a bit like Foursquare, with a little Google Now thrown in. It's time for Social Media Saturday!

Samsung Galaxy S5 Fingerprint Sensor Questioned by Sen. Al Franken: 13 Questions for Samsung CEOs

U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has garnered a reputation of questioning privacy implications for not only his constituents but for Americans across the country. With the release of the Samsung Galaxy S5, Franken wrote a letter to the company's executives regarding the smartphone's fingerprint scanner.

Arrington Vs. Heyward: The Sparring Match Over Whisper at TechCrunch Disrupt

Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch, has a reputation for being a tough interviewer, to say the least. So when Whisper CEO Michael Heyward appeared on stage for an interview with the skeptical Arrington at TechCrunch Disrupt on Wednesday, the "Fireside Chat" turned into more of a trial by fire.

Defiant Transparency: New Policies Tell Users When Gov. Wants Their Data at Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google and Yahoo

After a year of learning about the U.S. National Security Agency's internet spying programs, at home and abroad, frustration has led major U.S. technology companies to defiantly change their transparency policies. Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook have all announced they're updating their policies to inform users when the government requests a seizure of their data.

USPS Workers Protest Partnership Between U.S. Postal Service and Staples

On Thursday, members of the American Postal Workers Union held demonstrations at several Staples locations in 27 states to protest a partnership between the U.S. Postal Service and Staples Inc.

German Media Titans Are Afraid of Google and Facebook: Should We Be, Too?

Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, a huge European multimedia company based in Germany, made a big splash this week when he wrote an open letter in a German newspaper saying that he and other European executives "are afraid of Google."

Microsoft Privacy Policy Change: Hotmail Account Hack Leads Terms of Service Changes, Includes Law Enforcement

Following controversy of Microsoft accessing a user's Hotmail account, the Redmond-based company has issued changes in future similar instances.

Obama To Unveil NSA Reform Legislation, But Will Congress Act Anytime Soon?

President Obama is preparing to offer legislation to make good on his promise to reform the National Security Agency's bulk collection of U.S. phone records, also known as metadata. Whether or not that legislation passes through Congress is yet to be seen.

Social Media Saturday: Twitter Celebrates 8th Birthday, Gets Banned in Turkey, and U.S. Gov. Tells Facebook About Privacy

This week in social media, Twitter turned eight years old and was banned in Turkey, Facebook faced off with the government over privacy (and it's the other way around this time), and Pinterest and Tumblr both got into marketing and ads. It's time for Social Media Saturday!

Google Glass Release Date News: Etiquette, Privacy Issues Delay Wider Rollout, Stuck in Explorer Beta

Consumer sentiments aren't high at this time Google Glass, the latest in wearable technology, has yet to be released but it is already experiencing a lot of hate from its potential customers.

NSA Can "DVR" An Entire Nation's Phone Calls for 30 Days - Report

If you thought the National Security Agency, which is now famous for collecting U.S. phone records or "metadata," wasn't at least capable of listening in on the actual content of phone calls, think again. A new Washington Post report says the NSA has the capability to record phone calls and hold on to the entire record on a 30-day basis - for entire countries.

Latest NSA Revelation Pushes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Buttons

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with most giants of the tech industry, has expressed his critical views on the U.S. National Security Agency's activities before, but it appears that the most recent NSA revelation published this week has pushed him over the edge. On Thursday, Zuckerberg called President Obama himself, after which he publically aired his grievances on (of course) Facebook.
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