I have been reading an article in the Chicago Tribune about online anonymity. Most of the story is centred around the defamation dispute between Lisa Stone and an anonymous individual going by the handle Hipcheck16 (see legal documents here). Lisa Stone was running for local office in an Illinois suburb Read more
A world without privacy has often been depicted as part of a dystopian nightmare in various works of speculative fiction. Yet when we are suddenly thrust upon a world where the very notion of privacy seems to be melting before our very eyes, the public’s response is not one of Read more
Things are heating up in the fight against piracy in the UK. Virgin Media has announced that it will use deep packet inspection (DPI) software to analyse whether its customers are sharing copyright infringing material. Privacy International has brought this practice to the attention of both the European Commission and Read more
There are some things in life that are so wrong at every level that as soon as they see the light of day deserve a big fat “FAIL” caption. That “Mission Accomplished” banner. Boy bands. Any movie bearing the words “A Film by Michael Bay”. Misplaced CCTV cameras. The latest Read more
Have you had an embarrassing or worrying moment with communication technologies? Are you concerned about online privacy? If you answered yes, then you may be happy to know that you are not alone, the number of people concerned about online privacy is increasing. Of course, this is not the exclusive Read more
Press gag orders in the UK have a deservedly bad reputation, they are some of the worst examples of repression of freedom of speech through draconian legal measures. While one could argue that they may be justified in some cases with regards to human rights and privacy, they are currently Read more
The British press has been involved in a sickening exercise of collective leering and sneering prompted by the conviction of 26-year-old teacher Helen Goddard for having an affair with a 15 year-old female student; if you have a strong stomach, take a trip down Daily-Mail-land, the same paragon of women’s Read more
Who could have guessed? Social networking sites have proved to be a serious privacy threat. The new MI6 chief (who looks nothing like Dame Judi Dench), has been involved in a bit of a scandal because his wife had posted all sorts of personal information, pictures and other family details Read more
Anyone who studies technology knows about the tiered nature of its adoption. Whenever a new technology or application is invented, you get the early adopters, the trend-setters, the cool-hunters; these are people who are usually clued into new applications and have a knack of joining winning technologies at the very Read more
While covering the latest developments in the Phorm story, I could not help but feel a little bit sorry for them. Here was a company that felt it had a killer web advertising service that would be adopted by every ISP, and premium advertisers would flock to the service. Phorm Read more