Guest Post: The Many Sides of Being Social
The Many Sides of Being Social by Alannah Berson In 2014, several drag queens found themselves locked out of their Facebook accounts because their names weren’t “authentic”. [1] The accounts had been flagged after Facebook instituted a “Real Name” policy that limits what types of usernames are allowed on the site and seeks to tie […]
How to Protect Your Digital Identity Based on Your Zodiac Sign
We all can do more to protect ourselves online, but sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start. To help you out, we’ve come up with simple steps each Zodiac sign can take to increase their online safety. Let us know if your sign’s advice speaks to you, and let us know how […]
Book Review: Data and Goliath
Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World Bruce Schneier (2015) Digital Tattoo Rating: 4/5 1 2 3 4 5 Leave it on the shelf Give it a skim An informative read Would give to a friend A must read!!! Summary Once, while talking with Digital Tattoo contributor Elyse, […]
Voice as Identity: Rising Use of Vocal Biometrics
In this blog post, we will look at: What are voice biometrics? Why would companies want to start using voice biometrics? Are there risks in using voice biometrics? We may be becoming more familiar, and even more comfortable, with using biometric identifiers for authentication or security keys. A common usage of a type of biometric […]
In the News: Government Malware Disguised as Android Apps
A report by Vice News [1] published last week points to a report made by the cybersecurity group Security Without Borders [2] about Android malware that disguises itself as innocuous apps on Google’s Play Store. While disguising malicious software as harmless applications is not a technique that is new [3], the article published by Vice […]
In the News: Screen Composers Guild of Canada Proposes ‘Copyright Tax’ On Internet Use
A proposal by the Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC) to The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, released on September 25, 2018, aims to introduce a ‘copyright tax’ on Internet use, according to the documents released by TorrentFreak [1] In the report [2], the SCGC proposed a tax collected by internet service providers “that is […]
Book Review: Shareveillance
Shareveillance: The Dangers of Openly Sharing and Covertly Collecting Data Clare Birchall (2017) Digital Tattoo Rating: 2/5 Summary What does it mean to share in the Digital Age? In her book Shareveillance: The Dangers of Openly Sharing and Covertly Collecting Data, Clare Birchall investigates the intricacies of digital sharing on personal and state levels, and […]
In the News: Google Automatically Logs Users Into Chrome Browser on Google Sites
Google launched version 69.0 of its Chrome web browser on September 5, 2018 [1]. After the last version update of the browser [2], we talked Google’s decision to mark all HTTP-only websites as ‘Not Secure’. In their update for Chrome 69, Google decided to log users who had turned the ‘Sync’ feature into their […]
In the News: Google Tracks Smartphones that Disabled Location Services
You probably already know that there are tradeoffs involved with certain services offered through the internet. One such tradeoff is providing a service with your geographic location to find out where you are, or how to get to a destination from your current location. Google also receives your current geographic location via GPS data sent […]
In the News: Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance: “Privacy is not Absolute”
Five Eyes (FVEY) Intelligence Alliance is a multi-national agreement for signals intelligence between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom [1]. This group emerged as a result of the 1943 Britain-United States of America Agreement (1943 BRUSA Agreement)[2]. Although the treaty was signed and enacted in 1943, the public was only […]
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