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FTC Worries About Consumers, Cloud Data, and Privacy
pcause writes "Ars Techina has a nice article about the FTC's concern that consumers don't understand the implications of storing their data in the cloud. From the article: 'Data is now sitting on servers outside of your control, where it can be accessed far more easily by Google itself, hackers, and law enforcement than it ever could if kept within the device. Once data passes over the network, it gets much easier to access in realtime; once it is stored on a remote server, it gets much easier to access at any time. And those are just the phone settings. Google also has access to search history data, anything stored in Google Docs or Spreadsheets, complete schedules stored in Google Calendar, and recent Maps searches. Combine them all, and companies like Google become one-stop shops for authorities looking for personal information.' Do you think the average consumer even has a clue about this issue?"
Most cloud services these days are funded by companies who have ad interests too. Google has the web's largest ad network, Amazon loves to sell things, Microsoft has an ad platform too. Will what you post on MySpace suddenly influence which ad you see when you're watching Fox? Should it?
"Do you think the average consumer even has a clue about this issue?" No. And they don't care, and can't be made to care.
so the net change is that you'll have a harder time telling you've been snooped on
It's also easier to hide things you don't want to be seen. GMail can turn over your emails, but if they're encrypted, even with something simple, it will be harder to make it useful. How many secret messages I have hidden in the pictures I email around or post online? Who has the resources to check every one?
Searches can be masked using TOR and private browsing. Again, not bullet proof, but it doesn't have to be. Just enough to poison the data and make it unreliable. Go buy a pre-paid phone with cash and take the battery out of your regular cell phone at random intervals. You're not trying to create a smoke screen, just sow doubt.
That's if you're worried about it.
Law enforcement may think search data and social media information is some kind of lucky charm, but it's pretty easy to spoil that data, leave false trails and really easy to hide things. If they gain confidence catching stupid people, all the better for those with a little clue.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
A lot less people have (legal) access to my house than Google's servers. Maybe you live in a commune, but I don't!
Developers: We can use your help.
Side note: The article should have mentioned gmail.
Companies change. Look at Sun Microsystems. Suppose Google ends up needing money. What is going to stop them from allowing me / your mother in law / the king of Sweden from paying to dig through all of the data they have related to you? This might not be done directly through Google, but through a "nice, responsible company" which has paid for access to Google's data. If Google makes the data available to other companies, who knows what those entities might do with it?
We need legislation and a way to verify compliance!
Of course, it would be good if the legislation also protected our data from the Department of Homeland Security, but I do not expect lawmakers to be able to do the right thing there anytime soon.
-Todd
Omne ignotum pro magnifico.
With our lives stored on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. does today's younger generation even appreciate/want privacy?
Everyone knows who your friends are, what movies you like, that your cereal this morning looked like a smiley-face until your dog knocked it over.
Is our view of privacy outdated?
The average consumer cares about nothing more than having their immediate wants gratified. Notice I didn't say *needs*. And they are not willing to put in the effort to understand the consequences of their actions, either due to unintentional or willful ignorance.
This is not every consumer, but the average one.
There is no other possible way that I can explain American Idol. ;)
For linux tips: http://www.linuxtipsblog.com
...in an alimony suit with a woman that I'd never met. The case was quickly dismissed, but the attorney did some dirty subpoenas and essentially tore my dignity to shreds in front of several people. It's reaaaalllly funny to people who look at your search history, your emails, and your CC purchases with no context and absolutely no justification.
I USE ANONOMYZING PROXIES NOW.
Yep, still there.
Backup your important data.
Encrypt your sensitive data.
These two steps are as important and effective with the cloud as they are with any other form of storage.
Morpheus, God of Dreams.
Actually, even if they have access to the terminal, they may not have access to the data if you have separate logins... of course, I tried something like this with my ex, once; it didn't work out real well. Separate computers turned out to be easier.
Of course, this only works if you're running a real OS. If you use Misro$oft Win/DOS, well, best of luck.
Even if your SO insists on having access to your user account and password, unless she's *NIX savvy you can always bury stuff in /usr/local/bin/whatever_arcane_sounding_subdirectory, make root the owner, and set permissions to rwx------.
If you're really worried, put the data on a separate partition, and use /etc/fstab to keep it from mounting, make an alias from the mount command to a shellscript that quietly wipes that partition, and overwrites it with garbage, unless you mount it with the correct alternate command...
Yeah, guess I'm a little paranoid.
~Hal
If you're worried about your privacy, don't forget to rm -rf /home/[username]/.macromedia everytime you logout.