Eddie On Everything » privacy

Why Can’t I Remove Items from the Kindle Fire Home Screen Carousel?

eddie — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:48:01 +0000

Psst. Hey, Amazon.

You know all those eBooks I’ve bought at your site over the years?

You know which ones I’m talking about?

Yeah, you do. And so does everyone else who picks up my Kindle Fire, because every book I’ve ever purchased from you is listed in the carousel!

Never mind the fact that I’ll never need to re-read the dozens of trashy titles that I finished years ago, which only clutters up the interface. Never mind the fact that this carousel thing is a mess with its jumble of apps, documents, videos, web page screenshots, and book covers.

But did you ever stop to think that I might not want my friends, family, and anyone who wants to play with my Fire at a coffee shop knowing that I secretly read Twilight?

Or that some people might be *embarrassed* for others to know they’ve read “Coping with Depression,” or “Transgender Explained For Those Who Are Not?” Maybe someone had to check out “Understanding and Addressing Adult Sexual Attraction to Children: A Study of Paedophiles in Contemporary Society” for research project 3 years ago, and here it is on display on their Kindle, for all comers to see, for the rest of eternity.

Or maybe I recently became pregnant and don’t want my family and friends to know just yet. But that “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” sure is a mighty big hint, don’t you think?

You’d think you’d know better.

Sure, you’ll probably respond by saying, “The Kindle is a personal device.” Yep, sure is, Amazon. It’s so personal that I can’t let anyone else ever touch it. I might as well keep it on my nightstand, locked in a small safe. Or, hey, maybe I’ll just send it back.

Fix it now, Amazon.

Or I’ll start getting my eBooks elsewhere.

LinkedIn Tracks Who You Search, Lets People Know That You’ve Viewed Their Profile

eddie — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:02:32 +0000

I got an email from LinkedIn containing a list of “people I might know.” Doesn’t sound too shocking, it’s a social networking site just like Facebook, right? Here’s the creepy part: I don’t even have a “real” LinkedIn account, but the email contained lists of people that I actually do know. Scared? You should be. Read on.

First, I should explain that I don’t use LinkedIn. While your opinion and mileage may vary, I think it’s, well… completely stupid. I seriously doubt that anyone has ever landed a job as a result of a LinkedIn connection, and I just don’t see the point. Anywho, while I don’t have a need for a LinkedIn account, I have occasionally needed to view LinkedIn content that is only available to registered users. Since I don’t want to endure a lifetime of LinkedIn spam, I set up a completely fake email account that I never used for any other purpose, and set up a LinkedIn account using a fake name, ala “John Doe.” So I’m “John Doe” on LinkedIn, with an email address of JohnDoe123@hotmail or something like that. I think I may have listed my profession as “Professional Salsa Tester,” but I can’t recall.

Imagine my shock when I check the fake JohnDoe123 email account that I use with the fake JohnDoe123 profile and see that LinkedIn is suggesting that I “connect with” people that I actually do know in real life. How in the holy hell did they figure that out?

I’ll tell you how – it’s because I’ve searched for these people while logged in to my fake LinkedIn account. In other words, LinkedIn is keeping track of who I search for, and it’s coming back, months later, and suggesting that I add those people as a friend. Not just suggesting, but it’s spamming me and showing off how damned clever it is via email.

See any problems here? Imagine this: let’s say that, one day, I used LinkedIn to look up a few old girlfriends, just out of curiosity. (I didn’t, but assume that I did.) Imagine the trouble I’d be in with my wife when LinkedIn sent a message, 4 months later, suggesting that I add 3 of my old girlfriends as LinkedIn connections. “Why in the hell is it suggesting that you add THEM?!?!?” “Um…I don’t know?..”

What a complete breach of the privacy I thought I enjoyed on LinkedIn.

But wait… it gets worse! Did you know that LinkedIn lets paid members see that you’ve viewed their profile? That’s right, if you view your boss’ profile on LinkedIn, if he is a paid LinkedIn member, LinkedIn will tell him that you’ve viewed his profile. This works for not only bosses, but all types of people. (Ex-lovers, Enemies, Coworkers, Competitors, Doctors, The Mayor, a Potential Client, Your Co-Worker’s Son, A Person Who Might Be Interviewing You For a Job, Barb in Accounting, whomever.) Betcha didn’t know that these people were notified every time you viewed their profile, did ya? They were. Feeling violated yet?

I’m sure that this super reverse-stalker feature converts a lot of people into paid members. For me, though, it’s had the opposite effect – I’m going to make sure that I never, ever, ever, ever visit the LinkedIn site again.

RockMelt takes privacy seriously, but you can’t use it unless you share all of your personal data from Facebook

eddie — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:29:40 +0000

Well isn’t this just the most hypocritical thing I’ve seen all week.

Seems that Marc Andreeson, one of the brains behind NCSA Mosaic and its successor Netscape Navigator, is working on a new web browser dubbed RockMelt. With its integrated social networking features, RockMelt claims to be “Your Browser, Re-Imagined.”

First, I don’t want my browser re-imagined.

Second, didn’t Flock already do exactly what RockMelt claims to have dreamt up?

Uh, yeah, they did. And it was a colossal failure.

And doesn’t that thing look a lot like Chrome?

Still, I wanted to see what all the hype was about so I headed over to the RockMelt website to download the thing. Only I didn’t download it, because in order to do so, I’d have to turn over my name, gender, email address, profile pictures, a list of my friends, and a list of things I “like” by connecting with Facebook!

The real kicker is that they claim to “take my privacy seriously” in the same breath that they require access to my Facebook account!

From the FAQ:

Do I need a Facebook account to sign up?
Yes, right now you need a Facebook account to sign up and use the RockMelt beta.

Can I use my Twitter account to login to RockMelt?
You can add your Twitter account to RockMelt, but you need to use a Facebook account to login to RockMelt.

You know why you can’t sign in with Twitter? Because it doesn’t provide them with enough of your personal information!

The chutzpah leaves me nearly speechless.

Your Phone Number is on Facebook – Who Cares?

eddie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:01:59 +0000

A lot of my Facebook friends keep re-posting this.

Apparently people are outraged that their phone number is available to their Facebook friends.

Why is everyone so concerned?

The message:

PHONE NUMBER IS NOW ON FACEBOOK! Go to the top right of your screen,
click Account then Edit Friends. Go to the left side of yourscreen and
click Phonebook. Everyone’s phone#’s are now being published.Please
repost to let your friends know this is happening so they can remove
……their phone #’s by changing their privacy settings. (Pr…ivacy
Settings- Phone – Customize – Only Me.)

What, are you worried that one of your friends might *gasp* call you?

Yes, if you put your phone number on your Facebook profile, your phone number is on Facebook. Guess what? Your name and picture is on Facebook, too. And if you put in your schools, or hometown, that’s there too.

This is really much ado about nothing, especially considering that if you have your privacy settings set correctly, only your friends can see your phone number.

But even if you have your Facebook profile set to “world readable,” again, I have to ask: Why do you care?

If you’re still worried, I have some other news that might shock you into tomorrow. (You’re gonna want to sit down for this one.) Your phone number is also published in a publicly available directory, right next to your name and address – it’s called the phone book.

Facebook Rolls Out “Master” Privacy Controls

eddie — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:56:19 +0000

Got this in the mail from Facebook today. Turns out the rumors are true. Thought I’d share.

Hi Eddie,

Facebook will roll out changes today that will make it easier for our users to understand and control their privacy settings. As this change will have an impact on our users, we wanted to let you, a valued advertising partner, know about it. Please note that this change will not affect your advertising campaigns and there is no action required on your part.  

Facebook is a company that moves quickly, constantly innovating and launching new products to improve the user experience. The feedback we heard from users was that in our efforts to innovate, some of our privacy settings h ad become confusing.   

We believe in listening to our users and taking their feedback into account whenever possible. We think the following changes address these concerns by providing users with more control over their privacy settings and making them more simple to use.  

Starting today, Facebook will:  
* Provide an easy-to-use “master” control that enables users to set who can see the content they share through Facebook. This enables users to choose, with just one click, the overall privacy level they’re comfortable with for the content they share on Facebook. Of course, users can still use all of the granular controls we’ve always offered, if they wish. 
* Significantly reduce the amount of information that must be visible to everyone on Facebook. Facebook will no longer require that users’ friends and connections are visible to everyone. Only Name, Profile Picture, Networks and Gender must be publicly available. Users can opt to make all other connections private.  
*
Make it simple to control whether other applications and websites access any user information. While a majority of our users love Facebook apps and Facebook-enhanced websites, some may prefer not to share their information outside of Facebook. Users can now opt out with just one click. 
I encourage you to take a moment to read our CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s blog post and check out the new Facebook Privacy Page.

Thanks,
The Facebook Ads Team

Searching your Facebook page for “Automation Log” does not show you people who have “Hacked’ your account

eddie — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:53:59 +0000

A recent Facebook hoax reads like this:

IMPORTANT No joke! Apparently multiple people have had a hacker. I tried this and yes he was listed on mine too. The way to find them is to go into your settings, privacy settings, block list, and in the “person” box, type “automation log.” If someone pops up, block them because it seems they’re the hacker. I had 3 names in my block list show up!!!!

The problem is, this is entirely false.

Here’s what’s happening: When you search for “automation log” you are searching for all people with the words “automation log” listed as their employer. It’s as if you were searching for the term “Microsoft,” or “Comcast.” What you are seeing is a list of people who have written that word in their profile, not a list of people who have hacked your account.

As an experiment, I changed my Facebook page to contain the magic words “Automation lab.” Within 10 minutes I had received a couple dozen hate emails. A sampling:

“get a life dude. stop hacking my sh*t”

How the F*CK did you get into my friend’s list?
“I just reported you – LOSER”

“you fu*in freak get a job you fat fu**er specky tw*t!!!!!!!!”

FU* YOU AR** HOLE

“u bin tryin 2 hack me pu**yole?”

“okay so I have to ask you … there is this going aroung on fb. it’s saying there’s hackers…are you a hacker automation log. is what I was told on how to find you?”

You just pissed off the wrong people…

Wow, harsh! Hey guys (and gals), I’m only trying to help!

To be fair, I did receive a number of thoughtful inquiries as well. So the world isn’t all bad. :) One person even wanted to save my soul!

“They say y’all are hackers, and I don’t care what you are doing Eddie even if you are stealing information. I am worried about your eternal soul. did you know that you are on your way to hell unless you have asked Jesus Christ to save you? Eddie you should stop whatever you are doing right now and get on your knees and ask and beg the LORD Jesus to forgive you through His Blood. I am going to report you to Facebook and block you from my profile, but you can still contact God. I am truly concerned for you and where you will spend eternity. Please ask him to forgive you!”

How to turn off the “Recent Documents” display in the Windows XP Start menu

eddie — Sun, 21 May 2006 11:08:27 +0000

By default, Windows XP displays a menu entitled “Recent Documents” in the Start menu.

This list of recently accessed files can be viewed by anyone using your computer, which can make for some uncomfortable circumstances when others sit down at your desktop.

Keep your files more private by turning that list off.

There are 2 ways to turn this list off. The first uses menu options, the second uses the registry editor.

Here is how you turn off the Recent Documents display in Windows:

Right-click Start, and then click Properties
Click Customize
Click the Advanced tab
Under Recent documents, uncheck “List my most recently opened documents”
Click OK, and then click OK again.

Voila- the list is now gone!

You can accomplish the same by editing the registry using the Registry Editor.

Here is how you turn off the Recent Documents display in Windows, using the registry editor:

Open the registry editor
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced
Set the value of “Start_ShowRecentDocs” to one of the following values:
Value of 0 – List my most recently opened documents is disabled
Value of 2 – List my most recently opened documents is enabled

Eddie On Everything » privacy

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