Tag Archives: Facebook

News

Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay form lobbying group

A new lobbying group is being formed according to the Washington Post today.

Google, Facebook, Amazon and eBay will make up the group which will be called The Internet Association and as stated by them, will be “the unified voice of the Internet economy, representing the interests of Americas leading Internet companies and their global community of users.”

It will be led by Michael Beckerman who is the former deputy staff director of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and former advisor to United States Representative, Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican.

See Report: Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay form lobbying group – Pulse of the Bay – The Bay Citizen.

Opinion

BBC News – Does the internet do more harm than good to the gay community?

1 Comment

BBC News – Does the internet do more harm than good to the gay community?.

To mark gay pride week, the food company Kraft made a rainbow colored Oreo cookie, which they posted on their Facebook page.

Although most of the 20,000 comments on the post were positive some were negative, with customers pledging never to buy the product again. Others questioned why a cookie company was championing gay rights.

The negative comments have sparked a debate about “homophobia” on the internet.

This was followed by the negative tweets and comments hip hop star Frank Ocean attracted, after revealing his sexuality in his blog.

With the homosexual community citing these as examples of proof that the web is homophobic, has the web not done more to promote LGBT liberation than any other medium?

Are we now going to see the powerful LGBT lobbying groups push to censor the web?

We have already seen Google launch a campaign to promote gay rights across the globe.

Where could this end?

News

Google Slapped With $22.5 Million Fine for Privacy Violation

1 Comment

On Monday the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) levied the largest fine to date on Google for a privacy violation.  The slap was worth $22.5 million.

Google had been attempting to work around Apple’s Safari on its mobile devices.  They were watching mobile users’ browsing habits, even if those same users had believed they had blocked that access.

This isn’t Google’s first interaction with the FTC.  In fact, in addition to Google, Facebook and Twitter have also been charged with privacy violations before.

Interestingly enough, if you have been a regular listener to prophet.tv this would not have taken you off guard.  Tune in to prophet.tv to ‘see the news before it happens’.

Taken from Google Slapped With $22.5 Million Fine for Privacy Violation: SFist.

News

Facebook Acquire Face.Com

1 Comment

Facebook have bought the facially recognition technology company Face.com. The Israeli based startup already had apps used on Facebook, which looks at users photos, tagging friends automatically.

This move suggests Facebook are seeking to further develop their facial recognition technology. With the vast amounts of personal data Facebook holds on it’s users, and the millions of photographs stored on their servers of users, and users families and friends; should we be concerned at Facebook further pursuing the capabilities of complying databases which would enable them to recognise you whenever, and wherever they see your image? Should we be concerned  as to the security of such data?

For more information: CNET

News

European Union to Bring New Data Protection Laws

1 Comment

The EU has passed new laws which will significantly improve data protection for individuals online. The web has highlighted many data protection issues, and these will only increase. In the past, Facebook has come under attack for not being careful enough with it’s users personal information, and the case of Sony, when 77 million customers had their personal information stolen by hackers, made it very real what can happen to your personal data when mishandled.

The new laws will not only impose heavy penalties on those who breach the new rules, but also give individuals new rights as well, including the “right to be forgotten”.

As we increasingly use cloud technology and have our personal details stored all over the world in massive servers, we need to know those who control this information are doing so in a safe and responsible manner.