When data don’t tell the truth

There are vast differences of opinions about this, left and right and middle. But if a 95 year old breaks a hip playing tennis, dies of pneumonia in the hospital, and upon testing is found to have coronavirus (which had not kept him off the courts), I just don't see that as a coronavirus19 death, not matter how Dr. Brix and Dr. Amy Acton (Ohio Dept. of Health) dig through the data and advise the president and Ohio's governor.

Google eyes and knows all

"Last month, the New York Times revealed how sensitive location data is harvested by third parties from our smartphones — often with weak or nonexistent consent provisions. A Motherboard investigation in early January further demonstrated how cell companies sell our locations to stalkers and bounty hunters willing to pay the price. For some, the Google sibling’s [Sidewalk Labs] plans to gather and commodify real-time location data from millions of cellphones adds to these concerns." https://theintercept.com/2019/01/28/google-alphabet-sidewalk-labs-replica-cellphone-data/

"We are a counted people. Our locations, words, memories, shopping habits, entertainment preferences and political beliefs are translated into numbers, then stored, sold, and traded by governments and the data giants of Silicon Valley who make our technological age tick.. . phones record location; emails, calls, and texts are scanned for keywords that allow Google to develop personalized ads; Facebook existence can be run through algorithms that generalize political psychology into a marketable identity. . . The general desire to know how to get to a coffee shop has uncovered the daily lives of the citizenry more quickly and effectively than a million wiretaps." (Marc Barnes, A counted people, First Things, Feb. 2019) https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/02/a-counted-people

The Facebook flap

Everyone is upset about Facebook sharing our data. Our carelessness in exchange for convenience has been going on a long, long time. Read the DSNB disclaimer that comes with your credit or debit card. To have the convenience of a piece of plastic in your wallet, you agreed years ago to share your personal information in any transaction the bank needs to maintain your account, including legal investigations and credit bureaus; you agreed they could use your personal information for marketing purposes; for uses with other financial companies; for their affiliates (whoever that is) to perform their "everyday" business purposes; for those affiliates to use your personal data for their business purposes, and for those affiliates to market to you using your own information you supplied when you applied for credit.

In 1967 when we moved to Columbus we had to request service from the utility companies. On ONE form there was a small error where a number took the place of a letter in my husband's name. That error continued to appear in all sorts of advertising we received for years because all that is sold. And resold.  Same with the BMV. So although the FB theft and misuse of our data is much bigger, we've been carefully eased into this lobster bath of warm water heating up for over 50 years.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2018/04/09/facebooks-data-scandal-impact/

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/12/19/facebook-used-data-from-chinese-security-threat-huawei-for-site-feature/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/technology/facebook-privacy.html

People Magazine wants you to use its form to contact your Congress member about gun control

What is OpenCongress--the website that is collecting your personal information as you e-mail your Congress member (supposedly it reroutes it)? Well, as you might guess, it's a far left non-profit, tax exempt organization funded by Soros among others. This hoax will help build a database of both pro and con gun control/confiscation voters. People Magazine is promoting contacting Congress through this source about gun control. Shame on People Magazine for not making it clear that someone is taking names.

In this week's issue of PEOPLE, Editorial Director Jess Cagle used his Editor's Letter to address the frequency of mass shootings in America. Below, we have published Cagle's letter, and also provided contact information for all 535 voting members of the House and Senate. We urge readers to contact their elected representatives to make their voices heard.

http://www.people.com/article/preventing-gun-violence-people-call-to-action-jess-cagle

FTC to Look Into Copy Machine Privacy

The problem is leased copiers--who knew they were data storage devices? Well, the bad guys probably knew--if they didn't they do now.

"During its investigation, CBS [April 19 report] found a machine used by a police sex crimes division in Buffalo, N.Y., with information on criminal suspects and domestic violence complaints. It also found pay stubs with Social Security numbers and medical records from insurer Affinity Health Plan, including names and physician diagnoses."

I guess since most businesses don't know how to overwrite the data, maybe the criminals don't either?

Technology News: Privacy: FTC to Look Into Copy Machine Privacy Breakdown

Facebook vs. Google

I'm a big Google fan. The story of its founders is the American dream. I remember exactly where I was (at my desk at work) when the TN vet-ag librarian told me about it. I use it constantly. Facebook. Oh, not so much. Yes, I'm aware of it, but can't think of any reason to join. Sounds too much like junior high school--friends, constantly gossiping, not going out side the group, etc. Not for this gal. Although I have used it from time to time to track down people--like the teenage piano teacher I had when I was 6 years old.

Wired is in my first issues collection (my hobby), and I still subscribe because 1) it's incredibly cheap, and 2) I can read it in the car or coffee shop much easier than reading it online. The Facebook article in the July 2009 issue is something you all should read, whether you're in an online community that uses real identities and data, or you are a fan of Google for going outside your comfort zone for information.

Facebook has a 4 step plan to dominate the internet, 1) Build critical mass (200 million members who contribute 4 billion pieces of information every month; 2) Redefine search (members will turn to friends); 3) Colonize the Web (10,000 partner sites); 4) Sell targeted ads everywhere (from the data you've contributed which will target you for ads). And then when the government takes over like it did GM and Chrysler? Shazaam.

354 Have you ever read the fine print?

I saw a newsletter (free) on a topic (could be anything--travel, horses, genealogy, publishing) that looked interesting. Now, I know these sites are only fronts for advertising--they provide free information on the internet or sent to my mail box, in order to collect readers, who will then click on ads, and the website receives a return on its investment. It is really just a modern magazine, which for a hundred years has been articles wrapped in advertising for subscribers whose names were freely sold to other advertisers.

Here’s the deal:

It wants my name, e-mail address, some demographics, etc. and recommends I read the disclaimer.

First it assures me that my privacy is very important to this company, and then goes on to explain how very unprivate all this is.

It doesn’t collect identifiable information unless I provide it (by subscribing).

It won’t sell or rent my information to a 3rd party.

It will only use my information to notify me of updates and for marketing purposes (that’s really pretty broad).

It isn’t responsible for the policies of websites to which it links.

It doesn’t use cookies to recognize visitors (but if I’m a subscriber, I assume I’m not a visitor?)

It will assist me by providing on-line shopping opportunities and advertising related to the information I’m reading about.

It will share aggregated research data, such as a my domain name and the Web site pages I have visited with advertisers or business partners.

Now here’s the big one:

as a general rule, it will not disclose any of my personally-identifiable information other than as set forth above except

when I specifically grant permission (like if I forget to check off not to share it) or

if it is required, such as when there is a good faith belief that the law requires it. It is that phrase, “as a general rule,” that sounds a bit squishy to me.

Advertisers or Web sites that have links to this newsletter’s web site may collect personally identifiable information about me. The information practices of the Web sites linked to this newsletter are not covered by its privacy policy.

If I make a purchase from a merchant or service provider listed on its Web site, the information obtained during my visit to the merchant or service provider's Web site - including tracking information, cookies and credit card number and contact information - is provided so that the purchase transaction may occur. Each merchant or service provider has a separate privacy and information collection practice.

There is a hosting company (unidentified) that protects the data about me that this company has collected.

I think the final statement is something about the above not being legal advice.

Everyday we give away our privacy, which is why I'm not too worried about the Patriot Act. We HAVE no private information. We gave it all away when we became enamored with the internet.