August 06, 2004

Google Hack

This news is a few days old, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway: as reported via Stereogum, Google has added a number span search feature. On the surface, this seems like a helpful idea—that is, up until the point where you can search for a range of numbers that would appear on a credit card and receive all the information Google has cached for the numbers in the range, including the names, addresses and telephone numbers of some of the cardholders.

Danger, danger, online shoppers!

Posted in Private Eyes Are Watching You | 6 August 2004 at 05:24 PM | Comments (0) | | Link

June 30, 2004

Bunnies Don't Make Good Pets

In an unfortunate bit of news, Loretta Lynn has had to cancel some recent engagements because she is recovering from double pneumonia.

In even more unfortunate news, the Massachussettes First Court of Appeals has upheld the ruling that an email provider did not break the law when he intercepted and read thousands of his users' emails to gain a competitive advantage in his bookselling business. Granted, he may not have broken the law according to the strictures of the Wiretap Act, but should electronic mail not be afforded the same protection under the law as traditional mail?

Posted in Private Eyes Are Watching You | 30 June 2004 at 03:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (32) | Link

April 07, 2004

They See Your Every Move

What scares me about articles like this is not that multi-national corporations and the government are trying to find avenues to gather personal information and invade privacy. I take that as a given; the companies want to know what I am up to so they can find more ways to sell me stuff, and the government wants to know what I'm doing so they have a better idea how to, uh, influence the populace.

I take it as a given that there are plenty of people who have personal information about me in their keeping, whether I gave it to them (or want them to have it) or not. The scary thing about the future we're facing if RFID laws are passed is that not only will there be large corporations (including the government) that have access to a lot of your personal information, but they will know where you are, physically. All the time. If you want them to or not.

That's just one step closer to absolute power, kids.

Posted in Private Eyes Are Watching You | 7 April 2004 at 06:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link

February 18, 2004

Spread the Genes Apart

After losing Pixar, Disney is continuing on the quest to save the company from the impending civil war between Michael Eisner and Roy Disney by purchasing the Muppets from The Jim Henson Company. At least I have Fraggle Rock and Labyrinth to remind me of how great they were before this happened...

And in decidedly un-Disney news, the hearing to determine the fate of same-sex marriage in San Francisco has been postponed until Friday. Gay and lesbian couples from all over the state (and the country) are flocking to SF to be married, much to my surprise and pleasure. Mayor Newsom certainly opened the floodgates this time, and not a moment too soon.

I've noticed a disturbing trend, particuarly of late: people in this country have a bizarre need to be invovled in the minutae of everyone's lives. Maybe the rampant proliferation of laxative and tampon advertisements has given us all the wrong idea about how much we should know about our neighbors, but I for one would be just as happy if being friendly did not involve my proper functions or anything that could be construed as a part of my sex life.

I certainly didn't vote for Prop 22 (the California initiative that prohibits same-sex marriages) and I'm more than happy that SF is taking the bull by the horns and trying to put an end to the discrimination. Much like my opinions on abortion, prostitution and drug use, for me marriage comes down to privacy: all of the above-mentioned issues are actions or agreements that take place between consenting adults. It is no one else's business who or what you are fucking, sleeping next to, sharing a home with, talking to, listening to, ingesting, or otherwise doing with your own body or the body of a consenting adult individual so long as those activities do not in any way hinder the rights of others.

Gay marriage does not mean that anyone would be allowed to have sex with children or pets, or even farm animals. It would not make it okay to sell drugs on the playground, or to commit murder, or even to write shitty pop songs or to have indiscriminate sex. It would not mean anything except that couples who are interested in making a serious commitment would be allowed to make a public declaration of their intent to be devoted to each other in the same manner that has been used throughout history. This isn't even a question of marriage recognized by religious organizations, just by the federal government!

And doesn't it seem just a wee bit invasive for the government to be able to say who you can choose to hitch yourself to?

Post Script: Happy Birthday, Alex!

Posted in Private Eyes Are Watching You | 18 February 2004 at 03:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (3) | Link

February 11, 2004

You're a Satellite, You're a Holocaust

"I introduced the bill because a reasonable expectation of privacy is too often a regulatory afterthought, and we have seen attempt after attempt by government agencies to implement sometimes ominous regulations to allow the federal government to invade the privacy of American citizens," said Chabot. [Commenting on the privacy bill that would make the consideration of privacy rights mandatory when drafting government regulations and policies.]

The rest of this post is mainly just a geek-out moment about how much I love Movable Type. It is definitely the best blogging tool, if not one of the best internet applications, of all time.

*sigh, swoon*

And now I've found a new toy: the MT Plugin Manager.

Bless David Raynes. Bless him, bless him, bless him.

Posted in Private Eyes Are Watching You | 11 February 2004 at 02:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1) | Link

February 06, 2004

Know Your Mole

I tend to be a little bit paranoid about the whispers that come through every now and again about so-called "smart chips" or other technologies that pose a threat to privacy. I have no desire to have all my personal information stored on some centralized media. Call me crazy, but that isn't an acceptable trade-off: some nebulous sense of safety against predators (terrorists, rapists, murderers, pedophiles, car salesmen) in exchange for the surrender of all the information that proves that I exist and am indeed who and what I say I am. Give me a can of pepper spray, my Social Security card and my driver's license and I'll be just fine. Sure, it's more to remember—and that much harder to get it all that way.

So imagine my surprise when I found out that bars—those homes away from home—and other such institutions are able and willing to mine the personal information that is stored on your driver's license. What information, you ask?

Why, the information that they get from the 2D barcode when they swipe your card through a card reader! Once they have it, they can happily collate your data and use you as a marketing tool. Not that that is all that surprising—everyone is trying to market to you, after all—but if the bouncer at your local watering hole can get your information that easily, who else can get it? And if they can get it, what nefarious uses are they putting it to?

I mean, if you're not careful, they could get your bra size and make cupcakes out of your breasts!

Posted in Private Eyes Are Watching You | 6 February 2004 at 05:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (150) | Link