Google Buzz is just launched by Google and people are raising privacy concerned about Google Buzz. This privacy issue is noted by the Silicon Alley Insider on Wednesday. By default Google Buzz show the list of people you follow and people that follow you. This list is a public list so any one visiting your Google profile would shown with a complete list of people that you follow and people follow you. In other words any one can go and see who are the people you email and chat with most.
Two obvious scenarios according Silicon Alley Insider
The good news for Google is that this is a very easy problem to fix. Google must either shut off auto-following, or it must make follower lists private by default as soon as possible.
Click into Buzz on Gmail
In the middle of the page, it’ll show you who you’re automatically following. Click "View and edit"
Click "Unfollow" for everyone on your list you don’t want the world to know you’re emailing.
Or just scroll to the bottom of the page and turn Buzz off
Thursday, January 28th marks International Data Privacy Day. Google recognizing this day by publicly and publishing their guiding Privacy Principles.
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Use information to provide our users with valuable products and services.
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Develop products that reflect strong privacy standards and practices.
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Make the collection of personal information transparent.
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Give users meaningful choices to protect their privacy.
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Be a responsible steward of the information we hold.
Ben Edelman, Harvard privacy researcher and guru found that Google toolbar is continuing to transmit users browsing information even it is disabled. Not only does it track a user’s Google searches, but it also phones home information about searches done in other search engines. Internet Explorer users who enabled Google Toolbar’s enhanced feature including Google PageRank and SideWiki are affected by this bug.
Ben Edelman conclusions about what Google should do:
When a user disables Google Toolbar, all Enhanced Features transmissions need to stop, immediately and without exception. This change must be deployed to all Google Toolbar users straightaway.
Google also needs to clean up the results of its nonconsensual data collection. In particular, Google has collected browsing data from users who specifically declined to allow such data to be collected.
But these records never should have been sent to Google in the first place. So Google should find a way to let concerned users request that Google fully and irreversibly delete their entire Toolbar histories.
The current Toolbar installation sequence suffers inconsistent statements of privacy consequences, with poor presentation of the full Toolbar Privacy Statement. Toolbar puts a button on users’ Taskbar unrequested. And as my videos show, once Google puts its code on a user’s computer, there’s nothing to stop Google from tracking users even after users specifically decline. I’ve run Google Toolbar for nearly a decade, but this week I uninstalled Google Toolbar from all my PCs. I encourage others to do the same.
Google said it will publish a download update today that will truly disable the monitoring when a user tries to do it. According to PCWorld
A Google spokesperson said Monday night.
Google confirmed the bug and said that only a tiny number of toolbar users are impacted. a fix for the toolbar would be pushed out Tuesday and the software would automatically update. Google declined to say how many toolbar users use IE8 and would only estimate the number of all its toolbar users as hundreds of millions.A fix that doesn’t require a browser restart will be available in an automatic update to Google Toolbar that we are pushing tomorrow.
A Gmail security vulnerability can allow an attacker to create a malicious filter without having access to your Gmail username and password? No, however, they can force you to create the filter without your knowledge. According to geekcondition. This new Gmail Security Flaw caused some domain owners to lost their domain names registered with GoDaddy including MakeUseOf and many other domain names are steeled due to this Gmail security vulnerability.
Read more…
Google teamed up with AARP to launch a new video series that provides AARP members with helpful, easy-to-understand tips on how to stay safe online. It includes pointers on how to set privacy controls in online photo-sharing sites, configure firewalls to protect your computer, select safe and secure passwords for your online accounts, shop safely online, and avoid phishing scams.
Safe Starts
Practicing password safety
Sharing your content safely online
Know what’s posted about you online
Shopping safely online
Avoid phishing scams
Ajay Pathak
25 September 2008
Google, Security, video
aarp, controls, firewalls, Google, online safety, password, phishing, privacy, Security, sharing, shopping
Google Buzz is just launched by Google and people are raising privacy concerned about Google Buzz. This privacy issue is noted by the Silicon Alley Insider on Wednesday. By default Google Buzz show the list of people you follow and people that follow you. This list is a public list so any one visiting your Google profile would shown with a complete list of people that you follow and people follow you. In other words any one can go and see who are the people you email and chat with most.
