InformationWeek Daily Archives
05/23/2013 06:28:50 Daily, February 02Covering Your Google Tracks
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In This Issue:
1. Editor's Note: Covering Your Google Tracks
2. Today's Top Story
- Five Ways To Keep Your Google Searches Private
Related Stories
- Google Confirms Using Ubuntu Linux, Won't Say Why
- Google's Sales Up 93% In 2005
3. Breaking News
- Microsoft Outlines Blog Policy
- Microsoft Can't Charge Fees For Source Code: EU
- Dell Soon To Announce AMD-Based Lineup: Report
- Apple Cuts Old iMac Price
- Mac IE Dead And Gone
- Symantec Girds For Microsoft's Security Entry
- Techies Got Winter Blues About Jobs And Finances In January
- Visto Has Eyes For RIM BlackBerry Users
- Oracle Seals Siebel Deal
- SAP Preps Software Services Announcement
- U.N. Tech Summit Promotes Middle East
- Nanotech Takes Tiny Steps Toward Progress
4. Grab Bag: News You Can Use From Around The Web
- The "Oh, S#&%!" Moment
- Group Sues AT&T Over Alleged Surveillance
- Honeywell Investigates Security Breach
5. In Depth: Government And IT
- SIA Applauds State Of The Union Address
- DHS To Deploy Holographics At Super Bowl
- Lockheed Gets $2 Billion U.S. Satellite Deal
- U.S. Ports Tackle Security With Technology
- Audit Chides Department Of Homeland Security's WAN
6. Voice Of Authority: Sun Scores First 'Defensive' Open-Source Success
7. White Papers: Fax Servers: Top Messaging Challenges And Ways To Solve Them
8. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
9. Manage Your Newsletter Subscription
Quotes of the day: Simplicity
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit
simpler." -- Albert Einstein
"Seek simplicity, and distrust it." -- Alfred North Whitehead
Who says no one cares about privacy? Our top story today, Five Ways To Keep Your Google
Searches Private, garnered well over 100,000 hits in its
first three hours on the site. Of course, everyone uses Google,
and Google stories generally do very well, but not like this. I'm
guessing it's the privacy angle that pushed it over the top.
That may be because it's one thing to agree to swap details about
yourself in exchange for some thing or some access that
you want. It's another thing to find out your data is being
collected behind the scenes without your permission. And it's
something else entirely to be strongly encouraged, or outright
ordered, to hand over data--something an uncomfortable industry
has experienced a rash of lately and is trying to figure out how
to deal with.
And figure it out they must, because playing in data traffic is
no longer going to happen without incurring substantial risks.
The fines, lawsuits, and bad publicity are starting to mount.
For its part, Google is attempting to resist a Justice Department
demand that it turn over a week's worth of search results. Even
though no identifying user information would be provided, Google
has refused, saying the request goes too far. The fear here, for
many, is that this time the request may not require user data,
but what about next time? Plus, I'm sure Google doesn't want to
open up a side business of responding to every police, DA, or
government request for search data. This is a door they
definitely do not want to open.
And judging from the humongous interest in Alexander Wolfe's tips
on ensuring search privacy, our readers don't want that door
opened either. (Check out his blog for a follow-up commentary to be posted some time this week.)
It's not a matter of having anything to hide, though certainly
individuals should have the right to censor what becomes known
about most of their legal activities. Wolfe quotes Cox News
Service columnist Todd Powell, who nails it when he says,
"There's a public version of me and a private one."
Exactly. There are parts of ourselves we prefer to keep to
ourselves, and parts we make public, and where we draw and redraw
that line is situational, depending on how we feel and whether
we're alone, with family, with friends, at work, or out on the
town. But we draw the line. What books we order, videos we rent,
and data we look up should be no one's business but our own
(unless, of course, we killed someone and there's good reason to
believe we looked up how to do it online or used the Internet to
conduct some other nefarious activity).
"Political debates aside, the question of browser privacy is at
its heart, a technical issue," Alex observes. And right he is. So
if the idea of public access to your search records makes you
uncomfortable, take heart. Because the issue is not only a
technical one, but as it turns out, addressing it is simple,
easy, and cheap to do.
Patricia Keefe
Five Ways To Keep Your Google Searches Private
Related Stories:
Google Confirms Using Ubuntu Linux, Won't Say Why
Google's Sales Up 93% In 2005
Microsoft Outlines Blog Policy
Microsoft Can't Charge Fees For Source Code: EU
Dell Soon To Announce AMD-Based Lineup: Report
Apple Cuts Old iMac Price
Mac IE Dead And Gone
Symantec Girds For Microsoft's Security Entry
Techies Got Winter Blues About Jobs And Finances In January
Visto Has Eyes For RIM BlackBerry Users
Oracle Seals Siebel Deal
SAP Preps Software Services Announcement
U.N. Tech Summit Promotes Middle East
Nanotech Takes Tiny Steps Toward Progress
In the current episode:
John Soat with "It's Only News"
Stephanie Stahl with "Vista Security"
Chris Murphy with "Visa Stamp Of Approval"
Watch Inside InformationWeek:
Larry Greenemeier on "VoIP: This Isn't The Worst-Case Scenario"
Do You Deserve A Raise?
Analyzing The Networking Vendors
A Week's Worth Of Dailies--All In One Place
-----------------------------------------
The "Oh, S#&%!" Moment (CNNMoney.com)
Group Sues AT&T Over Alleged Surveillance (AP)
Honeywell Investigates Security Breach (AP)
SIA Applauds State Of The Union Address
DHS To Deploy Holographics At Super Bowl
Lockheed Gets $2 Billion U.S. Satellite Deal (Reuters)
U.S. Ports Tackle Security With Technology
Audit Chides Department Of Homeland Security's WAN
Sun Scores First 'Defensive' Open-Source Success
Fax Servers: Top Messaging Challenges And Ways To Solve Them
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InformationWeek Daily Newsletter
1. Editor's Note: Covering Your Google Tracks
pkeefe@cmp.com
www.informationweek.com
Word that the government has been seeking search data from Google
has struck fear into the hearts of Internet Explorer and Firefox
users. Here are five simple steps to keep outsiders from
uncovering private information about your Web browsing habits.
Reports are circulating that Google is readying a desktop
competitor to Microsoft, but a Google spokeswoman says the Linux
is for "internal" use only.
Quarterly financial results were similar to the year-end
blowouts, Google reported.
Under the new rules, Microsoft will remove access to blog content
only when it receives a government-issued, legally binding notice
indicating that the material violates local laws. This framework
comes after Microsoft was criticized for removing the blog
content of an outspoken Chinese journalist.
To comply with the European Union's antitrust rules, Microsoft
says it will allow access to some source code--for a fee. But the
EU now says the company can't charge for the look-see unless the
code is "innovative."
One analyst says AMD-based Dell wares will start with notebooks revealed
within the next few months, then spread to servers and desktops.
The 20-inch iMac G5's new price is $1,499, $200 less than before
and only $200 more than the 17-inch PowerPC model.
Microsoft posted a notice on its Mactopia Web site that Internet
Explorer for Mac is no longer available for downloading. The
company recommended that Mac owners still using IE should "migrate
to more recent Web browsing technologies such as Apple's Safari."
Symantec's CEO says the company will increase its consumer
marketing and channel investment to stay a step ahead as
Microsoft enters the security game.
Tech pros were slightly less optimistic about their personal
finances and more were unhappy with their jobs in January,
according to a report by professional staffing and outsourcing
firm Hudson.
Meanwhile, legal maneuvering in RIM-NTP patent case goes on, with
final legal briefs due yesterday.
The acquisition becomes official as major competitor SAP prepares
a software-as-services announcement due this week.
If the company does reveal what observers are expecting this
week, SAP will go head-to-head with Salesforce.com, a leader in
the CRM software-as-a-service market.
The world's leaders in business, science, and research will meet
in Oman to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, scientific
research, and investment in the Middle East.
A new research center opening this week at Arizona State
University to study the societal impacts and potential benefits
of nanotechnology shows progress, yet some voice concerns about
whether nanotechnology is worth the cost--or the risk.
----- The latest research, polls, and tools -----
Is your career on track? The editors of InformationWeek magazine
invite you to participate in our ninth annual National IT Salary
Survey. Here's why you should participate: It's fast. It's
convenient. It's confidential. We'll compare your salary and
job-satisfaction responses to those of your peers in a
30-plus-page report.
InformationWeek Research's Analyzing The Networking Vendors
report provides customer evaluations from more than 600 network
equipment users. Vendor profiles include Cisco, Hewlett-Packard,
3Com, and Nortel. Use this report to evaluate current and future
network equipment providers and to benchmark your organization's
networking plans for 2006.
Have you missed an issue or two of the InformationWeek Daily? Or
want to check out some recent quotes of the day? Check out our
Daily newsletter archive page and get caught up quickly.
4. Grab Bag: News You Need From Around The Web
In every career, stuff happens. But if you keep your cool, you
can turn a workplace disaster into an image-building triumph.
A civil liberties group sued AT&T on Tuesday for its alleged role
in helping the National Security Agency spy on the phone calls
and other communications of U.S. citizens without warrants.
Honeywell International is offering credit-monitoring and
identity-theft insurance to approximately 19,000 current and
former employees whose personal information--including Social
Security numbers and bank account information--was posted on an
Internet Web site.
5. In Depth: Government And IT
The Semiconductor Industry Association voiced strong support
for President Bush's proposals to enhance the competitiveness
of U.S. high-tech industries, as outlined in Tuesday's State
of The Union address.
Holographic-based security systems are being used even though the
products won't be available publicly for some months.
Lockheed Martin has won a $2 billion, 10-year contract to build
the backbone of a space-based U.S. Air Force network that would
boost greatly communications links to forces worldwide.
Technologies being used include radio-frequency technology to
monitor truck traffic through terminals, biometric identification
cards to authenticate employee access, and radiation portals to
scan for hazardous materials in trucks and shipping containers.
Among other problems, DHS has not clearly outlined baseline
security controls or rules of use on the interconnected systems
to prevent unauthorized transactions on the WAN, auditors said.
By making Solaris open-source code, Sun Microsystems has staged
the first successful defensive open-source maneuver. Charles
Babcock calls it the scorched-earth approach to open source. Like
a smokejumper in front of a forest fire, Sun set a backfire to
consume the fuel before the conflagration could reach it.
This guide identifies several common fax problems encountered in
the workforce daily, including efforts to reduce dependence on
paper, retiring the department fax machine, effectively unifying
fax with E-mail, integrating with other popular applications, and
distributing information quickly and easily.
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