Facebook new ‘Data Use Policy’: 5 important things worth knowing

By Josh Durso

Facebook has taken a lot of criticism over the years for the privacy of their users on the site. It stemmed from users having a lot of information used that technically belonged to them – which they shared, and the way Facebook executed the notification of that collection. In simple terms, many of those individuals who felt Facebook went too far with their reach for information, or data collection, were even more outraged by the way Facebook explained themselves, or how frequently privacy policies were updated.

This week, Facebook took a step to quell some of the frustration from users in the privacy policy. In a policy that many felt was over-complicated and far longer than necessary, Facebook cut it down dramatically and restructured the entire interface of how users read the privacy policy. The company created a “Privacy Basics” page that explains the basic nuts and bolts of privacy on Facebook. It begins to define what privacy is, explains what information is being collected and used, and then who is using that information.

That being said, there are still a lot of questions, and at the end of the day – a few areas of focus that users should keep a close-eye on moving forward. Some of them are more basic, but others show just how far reaching Facebook truly is.

First off, remember – Facebook – much like real estate is focused on “location, location, location.” Recently, the social network began allowing businesses and companies to advertise depending on your location – instead of just targeting general ads at users based on things they do on their computer. That being said, Facebook made it clear in their old and new privacy policies that anything with a locating device inside of it – related to your computer, or mobile device – will be used to track your location. This includes the GPS on your smartphone, Bluetooth devices, and Wi-Fi signals.

Second, Facebook is collecting information from the other sites you visit as well. Essentially, any site that allows you to use Facebook – as a login method – is fair game. That means Facebook is collecting a lot of user information from third-party sites as well that aren’t affiliated with the company beyond login credentials. Don’t forget about Instagram, and the other apps that Facebook owns and operates, too.

Third, is related to ad targeting. Basically, Facebook can and will – unless you opt out – target ads based on your browser history, and will use what are called “cookies” to make that happen.

See Also: Facebook Messenger for iOS tracks more private data than you expect

Fourth, Facebook is monitoring and collecting everything. Messages, status updates, anything you create, share, comment, like, link, or otherwise while using the social network adds up to one thing: Information that Facebook has no shame about collecting and using for their own benefit.

See Also: Facebook simplifies Privacy Basics with skeptical elements

Lastly, is a new tool that Facebook has been working on for a while. The tool gives users the opportunity to buy things from other websites right on the site. Participants in this new shopping and buying system should keep in mind that their information is being held by the giant that is Facebook. That includes your credit card information and spending history.

Source: Facebook

Facebook: You post it, we can see it, and that's that

By Zach Miners

Facebook lets its users control whether other people can see the information they post, but when it comes to controlling what Facebook itself gets to see, privacy-conscious users are out of luck.

In fact, Facebook doesn't think it would make sense to let users do that.

“With most online services, there’s an understanding that when you use those services to share information, you’re also sharing information with the company providing the service,” said Matt Scutari, manager of privacy and public policy at Facebook.

“For users who are truly concerned with sharing their information with a particular platform, honestly, you might not want to share information with that platform,” he said, speaking during a conference on digital privacy in Palo Alto, California, on Friday.

“I don’t think there are many services out there who could claim they’re not using your information that you’re sharing with them for any purpose. They have to at least use that information to provide the service,” he added.

Scutari was responding to a question from the audience about what tools, if any, Facebook might provide to people who want to post and share information but keep it from Facebook itself.

Lately, the company has been trying to improve its controls for sharing among friends. In September it introduced a “privacy checkup” feature. And just this week it released arevamped privacy policy designed to be easier to use. The company also gives users information about how their data is used for advertising. But it has never offered users tools to limit what data Facebook can ingest when they share.

Data collection—what companies collect, and how it’s used—is an area of concern for Internet users in general, highlighted by some dramatic findings in a recent Pew survey.

Facebook does have a team of employees tasked with looking at privacy issues related to its products, features and tools. The team has a number of programs in place, including daily surveys of users and talks with people in other countries to get their views on privacy, Facebook said on Friday.

U.S. PLANS TO BUILD WORLD’S FASTEST SUPERCOMPUTERS WITH $425 MILLION

By WSKG

The U.S. Department of Energy will spend $425 million to research and construct supercomputers, such as NASA’s “Discover” machine seen here. Photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The U.S. government wants to take back the crown for world’s fastest supercomputer, and they’re willing to spend the money to do it — twice.

The Department of Energy announced a $425 million budget Friday that will be allocated towardsresearch and construction of supercomputers. A $325 million deal with IBM and Nvidia will see the creation of two new supercomputers that would each claim the title of fastest in the world; with $100 million going towards the research into the future of supercomputer science.

The two supercomputers, “Sierra” and “Summit,” will be built to work at almost double and triple the speed, respectively, of China’s Tianhe-2 supercomputer. Sierra, which will be used for nuclear weapons simulations, will clock in at 100 petaflops, while Summit, which will be stationed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee for civilian research, will perform at 150 petaflops. Tianhe-2, currently the world’ fastest, operates at 55 petaflops.

The rest of the budget will go towards research into “extreme scale supercomputing” technology, that aims to prepare for future supercomputer construction. The program, named FastForward2, looks to develop chips, memory and other technology that would allow the next generation of machines to operate at more than 20 to 40 times faster than today’s models.

“High-performance computing is an essential component of the science and technology portfolio required to maintain U.S. competitiveness and ensure our economic and national security,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said in a release. “DOE and its National Labs have always been at the forefront of HPC and we expect that critical supercomputing investments like CORAL and FastForward 2 will again lead to transformational advancements in basic science, national defense, environmental and energy research that rely on simulations of complex physical systems and analysis of massive amounts of data.”

The post U.S. plans to build world’s fastest supercomputers with $425 million appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

Cellphone data may be feds' air raid targets

By USA Today

Using devices mounted on aircraft flying high overhead, the federal government is gathering data from the mobile phones of thousands of innocent Americans in “a high-tech hunt for criminal suspects,” according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The program, run by the Justice Department's U.S. Marshals Service since about 2007, operates Cessna aircraft equipped with devices that mimic the cellphone towers of large telecommunications firms and trick cellphones into reporting their unique registration information, reported the newspaper, citing people familiar with the operations.

The program operates from at least five metropolitan-area airports, and the flying range of the planes covers most of the population. The airports were not identified in the Journal story.

The technology is aimed at locating cellphones linked to people under investigation by the government, including fugitives and drug dealers, but it collects information on cellphones belonging to individuals who are not criminal suspects, said people familiar with the program. The device determines which phones belong to suspects and “lets go” of the non-suspect phone.

Calling it “a dragnet surveillance program,” Christopher Soghoian, chief technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union, said: “It's inexcusable, and it's likely — to the extent judges are authorizing it — they have no idea of the scale of it.”

The technology used in the planes are 2-foot-square devices that can scoop the identifying information and general location from tens of thousands of cellphones in a single flight. The paper's sources wouldn't discuss the frequency or duration of the flights but said they occur on a regular basis.

A Justice Department official neither would confirm nor deny the existence of the program, saying that discussion of such matters would allow criminal suspects or foreign powers to determine America's surveillance capabilities. The official said Justice Department agencies comply with federal law, including by seeking court approval.

The program is similar to a National Security Agency program that collects millions of Americans' phone records, in that it scoops up large volumes of data to find a single person or a few people, the Journal reports. The government has justified the NSA phone records collection program as a minimally invasive way to hunt terrorists.

Some of the devices on the Cessnas are known to law enforcement officials as “dirtboxes” because of the initials of the Boeing Co. subsidiary that produces them — Digital Receiver Technology Inc.

Cellphones are programmed to connect automatically to the strongest cell tower signal. The device used by the Marshals Service falsely identifies itself as having the closest, strongest signal, thus forcing all phones that can detect its signal to send in their unique registration information.

Having encryption on a phone, such as that on Apple Inc.'s iPhone 6, does not defeat the process.

Phone companies are cut out in the search for suspects. Law enforcement has found that asking a company for cell tower information to help locate a suspect can be slow and inaccurate. This program allows the government to get that information.

People familiar with the program told the Journal that they do get court orders to search for phones, but it isn't clear whether those orders describe the methods used because the orders are sealed.

They What? AT&T Has Decided to Stop Tracking Your Phone

By Osvaldo Nunez 

AT&T Mobility, the nation's second largest cellular provider, will no longer track its users surfing the net on smartphones.

The change basically removes a hidden string of code attached to customers' service line. The line made it easier for AT&T to track subscribers on the Internet, an opportunity for advertisers to gather valuable information.

Most AT&T users were probably not even aware that their own provider was tracking them. AT&T was able to sell our data and according to their spokesperson, it was apart of a test program. Their spokesperson, Debra Lewis, said that "As with any program, we're constantly evaluating, and this is no different,"

If they do decide to bring the scheme back: "customers will be able to opt out of the ad program and not have the numeric code inserted on their device."

Not only was AT&T using this scheme, but also Verizon. Verizon is still evaluating the scheme and that they are doing it differently, keeping users' information secure, and instead using history to feed ads.

"Everything you wonder about, and read, and ask the Internet about gets this header attached to it. And there are ad agencies out there that try to associate that browsing history with anything that identifies you," said aid Jacob Hoffman-Andrews, a senior staff technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil-liberties organization that opposed the practice.

For users, it's not easy to get real online privacy. It would probably be costlier if users actually had their independence on the Internet. For example, users may be hit with hundreds of dollars worth of termination fees if they try to leave the carrier.

ProPublica discovered that Twitter was using Verizon's tracking codes as well.

To check if your phone is being tracked as well, go to ProPublica.

FCC questions AT&T’s decision to “pause” its fiber optic rollout

By Tech

The Federal Communications Commission has sought clarification from AT&T regarding its decision to “pause” the company’s roll out of high-speed fiber optic lines across the US.

Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chief executive, ended up landing squarely on the FCC’s radar for comments he made about the temporary shutdown of the company’s fiber optic plans. The CEO said that in the face of uncertainty about the future of net neutrality AT&T can’t afford to invest in the project “without knowing the rules” that will govern that network. Meanwhile, the FCC has sent a letter to AT&T on Friday asking for clarification about the company’s plans regarding the technology to be used in the roll out and how many households it plans to connect.

The FCC has AT&T in a bit of a bind; while the telecoms provider has a vested interest in the net neutrality decision the Commission is currently mulling over, it also needs approval from the FCC for the nascent plan to acquire satellite television provider DirecTV for $48.5 billion. The approval for that business move is already on the back burner until consumer protection provisions are ironed out, and AT&T has said that it’s dedicated to working with the FCC in any way it can.

AT&T’s original plans for the fiber optic roll out, which would bring data transfer speeds as high as 1 gigabit per second to consumers, were to reach 100 cities across the US by the end of 2015. However, Stephenson intimated that the deployment could be limited to just the 2 million homes that were part and parcel to the DirecTV deal instead.

The FCC wants more than just information about the roll out plans when it comes to the fiber optic technology. The Commission says that it needs to determine if the investment plan AT&T is relying on would be profitable or not, and also wants to see if it would be a profitable venture to roll that fiber service out to those 2 million homes. The FCC also requested any and all documents related to those plans in the wake of the DirecTV acquisition.

Facebook to cut unpaid posts by marketers on news feeds

By Vindu Goel

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook's executives are not terribly worried about upsetting people these days.

Flush with profits and a high stock price, Facebook recently shocked investors by saying that it planned to spend billions of dollars on projects that might never generate any profits.

And on Friday, the company told marketers that if they really wanted to reach their customers on Facebook, they needed to buy an ad.

Even for big names

The social network announced that starting in January, it would reduce the number of posts made by brand pages, such as pitches to install a new mobile app or tune into a TV show, that appear in the news feeds of its 1.35 billion global users.

That is likely to mean that fewer fans of a retailer will see its notice about a big sale and fewer fans of a video game company will see a post promoting its latest app.

Unpaid posts will drop out of the news feed even for big advertisers that spend millions of dollars on Facebook ads. But Facebook, which dominates social media advertising the way Google dominates search, has so much power that they don't have much choice but to switch to paid ads.

"It's a clear message to brands: If you want to sound like an advertiser, buy an ad," said Rebecca Lieb, a digital advertising and media analyst at the Altimeter Group, who was briefed ahead of the announcement.

The change to the news feed is the latest blow to businesses that try to reach customers through their Facebook pages.

Over the past two years, the social network has repeatedly tweaked the system that decides what people see in the news feed to cut way back on the number of unpaid posts from businesses.

The company argues that people would rather see videos, photos, news stories and updates from their friends and family.

At the same time, Facebook has aggressively promoted its advertising products, such as ads that pop up on its users' mobile phones urging them to install a new app. In the third quarter, Facebook reported a 64 percent increase in advertising revenue to $2.96 billion and said ad prices rose 274 percent compared with the previous year.

Response to complaints

Brian Boland, a Facebook vice president who oversees marketing of ad products, said the latest changes were not motivated by a desire to increase ad revenue but to make Facebook users happier, which helps everyone, including advertisers.

He said Facebook surveyed several hundred thousand users, who complained that they were seeing too many junky promotional posts in their news feeds. While some of those annoying promotions were paid ads, about two-thirds were posts from brand pages, so Facebook decided to downgrade their chances of bubbling up in the news feed.

Boland said Facebook's ads, which can target users by a range of factors, are a better way to reach the customers most likely to be interested in a particular pitch. "An ad maker doesn't want to serve content to people who don't want to see those posts."