You are here: Home / Archives for location

Verizon To Put Warning Stickers On All Smartphones With Location Awareness | Touch Reviews

May 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As part of the fallout of the current iPhone 4 location data fiasco it appears Verizon will now put warning stickers on its location-aware smartphones, reports Electronista.

In a letter in response to Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey’s call for information on the affair, Verizon SVP of Federal Government Relations Peter B. Davidson explains that Verizon will continue to try to educate its customers and to try to protect them from any potential pitfalls of smartphone ownership when it comes to their location.

In order to warn its customers, Verizon will soon begin attaching stickers to smartphone screens, warning that the handset has the ability to detect its (and thus the owner’s) location and transmit it to a receiving party. Whether this information will ever be read, let alone headed remains to be seen but Verizon is at least taking steps to protect its customers, as well as itself!

via Verizon To Put Warning Stickers On All Smartphones With Location Awareness | Touch Reviews.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Google, Apple Collect Location From Computers – WSJ.com

April 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Google Inc. and Apple Inc. collect and store location information from personal computers, as well as mobile devices, according to company executives, a disclosure that sheds new light on the scope of the data collected by tech companies.

Apple gathers information from some Apple Macintosh computers connected to Wi-Fi networks, and Google collects data from Wi-Fi-connected computers that use Google’s Chrome browser or search “toolbar.”

They obtain the information after a computer scans the area around itself for available Wi-Fi networks, typically after users give a website permission to determine the computer’s approximate location.

A description of the methods came in an interview with a Google product manager and a letter from Apple executives to federal lawmakers. Some of the information is laid out in Google’s privacy policy.

In most cases, the companies ask users for permission before gathering information about users’ wireless networks and nearby networks. But sometimes when they ask, it isn’t clear exactly how the data will be stored and used. Some Apple computers send location information to Apple if a user asks the computer to use his location to automatically display the correct local time.

via Google, Apple Collect Location From Computers – WSJ.com.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: , , , , , ,

SSD security: the worst of all worlds | ZDNet

March 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Data security on SSDs is a mess. Good luck removing data! Preserve it for digital forensics? Uh-oh. Secure erase might work, but it that good enough?

SSD data recovery

SSD security is important because data recovery is so much easier than for hard drives. For less than $1k you can buy the equipment that will read flash chips.

Flash SSD architecture leaves sensitive data at risk. Unlike hard drives, when flash SSDs rewrite a block, they don’t overwrite a fixed block: they grab some empty block and write over that, leaving the original data untouched.

Architectural insecurity

Flash is written to the first free 128k or 256k blocks. Rewriting means making a copy of the block and writing the old data plus the new data to another block.

Flash drive controllers virtualize the flash capacity through the flash translation layer (FTL). The blocks your OS sees are not the blocks that are being written. In addition, flash SSDs maintain a large pool of capacity that is not seen by the operating system.

Which leaves your old data on the old block. New writes are written to the first free location, not, as on a disk, to a specified physical location.

Garbage collection eventually overwrites the old block to adds it to the free block pool. Cheaper MLC drives avoid aggressive garbage collection because it wears out the drive sooner.

In addition, the flash failure mode is that the block cannot be written. As blocks reach their end of life, they may not get rewritten at all – leaving sensitive data there for years.

In the meantime you can have 10’s of gigabytes of data sitting on capacity that your OS can’t see. And like hard disks, “deleting” a file does nothing of the sort.

via SSD security: the worst of all worlds | ZDNet.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Apple sued over data tracking | TG Daily

December 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

An iPhone user has launched a lawsuit against Apple, accusing it of allowing applications to gather personal information without users’ consent.

The complaint, filed in San Jose, California by user Jonathan Lalo, alleges that iPhones and iPads contain a Unique Device Identifier (UDID) which allows advertisers to track what applications users download, how frequently they’re used and for how long.

Indeed, the suit claims, some apps are also selling personal information such as the user’s location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views.

Because the UDID is specific to the phone, it can’t be changed or blocked by the user. This, says the suit, is a violation of privacy laws and also amounts to computer fraud, as Apple claims it reviews all applications on its App Store and doesn’t allow them to transmit user data without customer permission.

via Apple sued over data tracking | TG Daily.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: , , , , , ,

A careless check-in costs lives, says Air Force | TG Daily

November 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Air Force is warning its troops not to use location-based services such as FourSquare, Facebook Places and Gowalla because they could, er, give away their location.

In an internal document sent to commanders, it points out that “careless use of these services by airmen can have devastating operations, security and privacy implications.”

According to AP, similar warnings may be circulated amongst the Army and Marines next week – the Army is responsible for the majority of the 145,000 troops currently in Afghanistan and Iraq.

via A careless check-in costs lives, says Air Force | TG Daily.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Google ‘revealed location of centre for vulnerable women’ – Telegraph

October 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Mark Lancaster, a Conservative MP, claimed Google had not only compromised the security of the building by publicising its full address alongside a picture of the exterior, but had also refused to respond to requests to remove the information.

His comments came in a House of Commons debate on internet privacy initiated by Robert Halfon, a fellow Tory MP, in which Google was also attacked for its Street View service, which catalogues photographs of millions of homes across the country.

Mr Lancaster said “[The refuge's] anonymity is crucial to the organisation” and to the wellbeing of the women and children housed inside.

via Google ‘revealed location of centre for vulnerable women’ – Telegraph.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , ,

Google ditches all Street View Wi-Fi scanning | Privacy Inc. – CNET News

October 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Google has no plans to resume using its Street View cars to collect information about the location of Wi-Fi networks, a practice that led to a flurry of privacy probes after the company said it unintentionally captured fragments of unencrypted data.

The disclosure appeared in a report on Street View released today by Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, who said that “collection is discontinued and Google has no plans to resume it.” Assembling an extensive list of the location of Wi-Fi access points can aid in geolocation, especially in areas where connections to cell towers are unreliable.

Instead, Stoddart said that, based on her conversations with headquarters in Mountain View, Ca., “Google intends to obtain the information needed to populate its location-based services database” from “users’ handsets.”

via Google ditches all Street View Wi-Fi scanning | Privacy Inc. – CNET News.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Google ditches all Street View Wi-Fi scanning | Privacy Inc. – CNET News

October 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Google has no plans to resume using its Street View cars to collect information about the location of Wi-Fi networks, a practice that led to a flurry of privacy probes after the company said it unintentionally captured fragments of unencrypted data.

The disclosure appeared in a report on Street View released today by Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, who said that “collection is discontinued and Google has no plans to resume it.” Assembling an extensive list of the location of Wi-Fi access points can aid in geolocation, especially in areas where connections to cell towers are unreliable.

Instead, Stoddart said that, based on her conversations with headquarters in Mountain View, Ca., “Google intends to obtain the information needed to populate its location-based services database” from “users’ handsets.”

via Google ditches all Street View Wi-Fi scanning | Privacy Inc. – CNET News.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Digital photos can reveal your location, raise privacy fears – CNN.com

October 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Skim through the photos on Flickr or Photobucket, and you’ll find pictures of cats pawing at living-room sofas, children playing in backyards and mothers gardening at home.

Dig a little deeper, and you can unearth the exact locations of many of those homes, embedded in data within the pictures.

Images often contain a bundle of information and various traces left by digital cameras or photo manipulation software.

This data, called Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF), is a key tool for many professionals. It can detail whether the photographer used a flash, which digital effects were applied to a picture and when the photo was taken.

EXIF can also contain the precise GPS coordinates for where a photo was taken. This information is readily accessible and can be plugged into software such as Google Maps — leading some security and photography experts to express concerns about amateurs unknowingly disclosing private information, such as the location of their home.

“What could go wrong with that?” Roger Thompson, the chief research officer for digital security firm AVG, said sarcastically.

via Digital photos can reveal your location, raise privacy fears – CNN.com.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Location, location, location – Storing EU Data with Safe Harbor | CloudNod

October 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

For years companies that had to store or process data about EU citizens only wanted to do it inside the EU. In some countries like Germany, the laws can be even tighter and hard to understand, so companies kept their data inside the “Bundesrepublik” to avoid any issues.

The “Safe Harbor” program for data management gains popularity

One of the developments in inter-continental data management that is not new but is gaining popularity with the rise of cloud computing is “Safe Harbor”, a program developed by the US State Department in cooperation with the European Union. Essentially once a US company is certified in Safe Harbor, they are deemed “adequate” by the EU and member nations with regards to storing and processing EU private data.

How does a US company get certified? Well, they just write a letter to the State Dept saying they are compliant, have an adequate privacy policy, and meet the program rules. The State Dept then publishes their name on the web… and viola- certified.

In some countries “Safe Harbor” is not enough

The problem is that countries like Germany have privacy laws like BDSG that are more restrictive/prescriptive than the umbrella EU laws. There are published legal opinions that Safe Harbor does not adequately meet BDSG and that additional steps must be taken to meet the required levels of data protection- but there is no German equivalent of Safe Harbor to give companies assurance of compliance. Hence, it is a huge risk to store data on German citizens outside of the borders of Germany.

Furthermore, the US and US-companies are not known for being champions of data privacy. For a US company looking to do business in the EU, Safe Harbor sounds like a dream come true… just find a “certified” provider here in the US and start your engines and ignore the fine print (and conflicting legal opinions). For the more risk-inclined, this may be acceptable. I haven’t spoken to a single smart CIO who thought accepting this risk was a good idea, and I agree 100%.

via Location, location, location – Storing EU Data with Safe Harbor | CloudNod.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare
Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »