Government Information Farming

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Julian Assange was recently interviewed by Russia Today and spoke briefly about social networking sites:

Facebook, Google, Yahoo – all these major US organizations have built-in interfaces for US intelligence. It’s not a matter of serving a subpoena. They have an interface that they have developed for US intelligence to use.

While possibly true, we must keep in mind that all of us (including the government) are currently exploring entirely new territory. The internet expands exponentially every day and the online world is beginning to have an impact on nearly every aspect of our lives. Individuals are struggling to interact online while maintaining privacy, companies are scheming ways to profit off this technology bubble, and governments are fumbling to assert their power in this new arena.

While, yes, it is a bit unnerving that the Big Bad Government can use personal information from sites such as Facebook and Google in order to create a digital map of the US population, I don’t believe it’s as nefarious as Assange suggests.

I mean, the government having a list of my friends (acquaintances?) and likes is not as scary as some unknown hacker(s) stealing 102 million user’s credit card and personal information.

While I may disagree with many of practices of the US government, I definitely put accessing information that has been freely volunteered into a different category than identity theft. Let me be clear, I am not making the claim that the government should have unwarranted access to this information. Instead, I am suggesting that people not volunteer sensitive information on social networking sites until the relationship between Internet powerhouses and the Government are properly established.

I think we should worry less about the US government having access to Facebook and be a bit more concerned about Sony and Epsilon. I don’t see large scale protests to the mandatory US census.

At least with Facebook there is an opt-out feature: do not use the site. Do not create a profile. Delete your profile. And if you trust your government less than you trust hackers who seek your credit card information, consider moving to a different country.

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Old Browsing Habits

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From Louis Lazaris:

In his mind, there was no difference between a web browser and a search engine…Alex is not alone in viewing “browser” and “search engine” as interchangeable terms. According to the video, less than 8% of users interviewed on that day knew what a browser was.

I am always absolutely shocked when I first read articles such as this. But I guess they shouldn’t surprise me. People still use Internet Explorer because they honestly don’t know the difference between a browser and a search engine.

I fully support people’s right to remain ignorant in areas that are of no interest to them. There is nothing wrong with having a computer simply to check email and do the occasional web search. Remaining unknowledgeable to the definition of “browser” has no effect on your end result: emails were checked, web was searched.

Instead, my concerns with this statistic stems more from a web development angle. Web developers must continue catering to these outdated platforms as long as people are still using old and inferior versions of web browsers. This means limitations in both functionality and design. A large number of people using lesser-compatible browsers means a large number of people missing out on a potentially useful product or website built using newer programming languages.

But how can we educate people who do not realize that their knowledge is lacking? People who have every right to remain ignorant and who are sometimes willfully against learning new technology?

I have a feeling this is a question we will be asking ourselves for years, and there will be no easy answers.

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Your iPhone Knows Where You Are, and it Doesn’t Matter

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All hell broke loose yesterday when Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden revealed that Apple stores your GPS location on your iPhone in an unencrypted file called consolidated.db, which is then uploaded to your computer when your sync your device. In fact, with a nifty open source application called iPhone Tracker, you can view, on a map, everywhere you’ve been since you updated your phone to iOS 4.

Articles filled with good information on the topic also seemed to be regrettably full of scare tactics and sensational headlines. If you haven’t read Ars Technica’s article “How Apple tracks your location without consent, and why it matters” I highly suggest it. As always, Ars Technica has the most most technical yet easy-to-understand breakdown of these new findings. But let me show you what I mean by sensationalism by quoting Jacqui Cheng directly:

What’s not shown is a week-long trip I took to Hong Kong in October. Why? Because I left my iPhone’s cellular and data connections turned off and only used GPS with WiFi while I was there. But if I know I used GPS in Hong Kong in order to make geotagged tweets and photos, shouldn’t it show up in this log file? The answer is no, and the reason behind it should scare you.

To summarize the rest of the article, and the reasons Jacqui Cheng thinks you should be scared, the iPhone only collects GPS data through Cell Towers and not Wifi (despite Wifi having the ability to acquire GPS information). Thus, there’s no way to turn it off. Unlike Jacqui, I find this acceptable rather than upsetting.

Apple is collecting locational data through cell phone tower triangulation in order to improve phone service. Cell phone companies have been doing this for years. Apple is not using this data in some insidious scheme. In fact, Apple doesn’t collect this data at all; it is simply stored it on your personal phone and computer.

However, there is still a scary part. This data should not be accessible to anyone (unless there is a court order), but Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden’s report prove that your GPS data can be easily collected by anyone with access to your computer or phone. The file is not encrypted by default on your computer, not not at all on your phone. Anyone, from sneaking spouses, to bosses, to overzealous fans can jump on your computer and reach the epiphany “Aha! John was in Colorado in June of 2010! I knew it!” Previously, this information was only available to warrant carrying law enforcement agents. Now, it’s out in the open—if your phone or computer is out in the open.

Which means this is a security issue, rather than a privacy issue. It means Apple needs to release an updated version of iOS and possibly iTunes in order to better encrypt this file. Do you know what also has security holes? Every internet browser you use and every operating system ever installed on a computer. This is why programs such as Norton Antivirus exist. To patch security holes. And this is why we shouldn’t be so quick to throw Apple under the bus.

People who are decrying this issue as a privacy concern need to take a look at other aspects of their life and put the iPhone tracking in perspective. Those with credit cards have almost every purchase they make logged by a major company (which can be accessed with a username and password or clever social engineering). Those walking around in New York City will no doubt be video taped on more than one of the 4468 (and counting) surveillance cameras monitoring the city (PDF). Those with an EZPass to pay for highway tolls are being tracked too. And people are actually monitoring this information.

Lest we forget, Apple DOES have an opt-out feature: don’t bring your phone with you. No one is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to carry your iPhone everywhere you go. If your cell phone is still by your side, right now, then you’ve made a conscious decision to accept this security flaw. You’ve weighed the pros and cons of having a cell phone, and ended up pro-phone. I don’t blame you. The iPhone has become an indispensable tool for me, as much as I hate to admit it.

So before we become overwhelmed by the crowd hysterics claiming that Apple is watching everything we say and do, we need to look at what is actually happening and put this in perspective. Apple made a booboo by not encrypting your cell tower triangulation file, but how many of you had sensitive personal information exposed in recent security breaches? How many of you simply charge everything you purchase? How many walk through cities without wearing a mask?

It’s time to pick our battles. Let’s focus this energy on worthy causes rather than being so quick to jump on the fear bandwagon. Where are we at with net neutrality and unhosted.org?

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Screw iPhone 5 Rumors, Give Me iOS 5 Rumors!

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If we believe the latest rumors, it appears as if Apple will not be announcing the new iPhone 5 at the WWDC (World Wide Developer’s Conference) in June like that have every preceding year. Instead, they will be focusing on software instead of hardware. At first, I was heartbroken at this news. I had held off on getting the iPhone 4 (opting to hold on to my iPhone 3GS) due to contractual and monetary reasons. Plus, the only new features that were really appealing with the iPhone 4 were a faster processor and a better battery, neither of which justified the purchase. So I’ve been patiently waiting for the iPhone 5, figuring it would be unveiled at the annual WWDC in June.

But Apple focusing on software rather than hardware actually makes perfect sense. I don’t think I could have worded it better than Marco Arment (of Instapaper):

iOS hardware advancement is reaching diminishing returns…when iOS itself gets better, everyone benefits. A major OS update can make a much bigger difference in everyday usage than an incremental hardware update.

Hardware advancement only goes in one direction: faster more succinct. In contrast, software updates can completely revolutionize devices. Software is what changes user interfaces and impact daily usage. While hardware updates mainly effect developers (allowing them to create better and more robust applications) it’s software that largely impacts the average consumer.

In all fairness, it should be software leaks that get the internet rumor-mills churning. Sure, the iPhone 4 leak was interesting to follow, but the important part was the iOS that it was running. Cameras can get better, phones can get faster, and batteries can last longer, but it was multitasking, FaceTime, and application folders that really had the largest impact on consumers. This was also the main reason I held onto my iPhone 3GS. All I had to do was install iOS 4 on my 3GS and I got a whole new phone. It may not have felt different in my hands and I couldn’t use FaceTime*, but I got all the other features. And it was completely free.

So when Tinhte released a video featuring the highly anticipated white iPhone, it was the unknown version of iOS on the white iPhone that is truly important. From the videos, it appears to be running a working version of what we can only call iOS 5. This white iPhone sports features such as Exposé-like app switching (neat), new Spotlight location (finally), and Facebook integration (ugh).

Why isn’t Apple freaking out in the same manner as the iPhone 4 leak? I would have to say it’s marketing strategy. Apple needs to hype their hardware in order to sell more products since software updates remain free to all devices running iOS (for now). When Apple gets all hot and bothered over hardware, what they’re really trying to convey is “This is a super secret special device and you must own it. This journalist was raided by the police for having one, do you think you can even HANDLE IT?”

Either way, iPhone 5 rumors aren’t what interest me, it’s iOS 5 that I’m curious about. What will it do differently? How will it impact the way I use my iPhone and iPad? How will it make my life easier?

*At that point, FaceTime was simply a gimmick anyway. After the novelty wore off, how many people actually used it? It wasn’t until FaceTime became available on the iPad (with the launch of the iPad 2) and the OSX that it really became an effective mode of communication.

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Extreme Couponing: It Hurts

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TLC premiered a new series called Extreme Couponing last night. Not sure how many people dedicated an hour to this season premiere, but I do know that 2.1 million viewers tuned into the hour long special that aired last December, a special that spawned this new series.

I have been interested in the entire frugality movement since my college days, after being introduced to the highly successful blog Get Rich Slowly. I’ve spent hours reading articles about saving money, managing money, and getting the most for every penny spent. I’ve switched my main banking over to ING Direct, where I currently maintain an interest bearing checking account, two savings accounts (each working towards different goals), a ShareBuilder account, and a Roth IRA. I follow the Frugal Subreddit religiously.

One world I’ve never even attempted to visit is the world of couponing, a cult-like subgroup of the frugality movement. I’ve heard stories, legends, of people who are able to use coupons to bring their $200 grocery bill down to pocket change. I’ve attempted to read articles explaining the fine art of cutting coupons to maximize savings, but my eyes always start to blur as soon as compounded manufacturer’s coupons start coupling with store coupons, which use points from individual store rewards cards that are active differently on different days of the week.

But now TLC is bringing us into that mathematically intensive world where couponing is a sport and the savings are palpable. But will I be tuning in? Most likely not.

I’m sure I may give the show a try. I’ll start the first episode and see how long I can watch before turning off the television in disgust. My problem is not the money savings tactics, the cult-like coupon cutting, or the excited savers. No, my issue is with pronunciation.

Call me what you will, but there is only so many times that I can hear someone incorrectly pronounce the word coupon as “que-pon” before my ears start bleeding. The mispronunciation of the word coupon (/ˈk(y)o͞oˌpän/) hurts me on a near physical level, despite the fact that I am not usually an extremist when it comes to grammar or pronunciation (I admit I have been known to pronounce words incorrectly myself). However, for me, the word “que”-pon vividly stands out of any sentence, much as I imagine those with a distaste for onions becoming overwhelmed when consuming a dish full of that specific vegetable.

The narrator’s correct pronunciation juxtaposed against other’s mispronunciations only serves to elevate irritation levels. The stark contrast seeks almost mocking.

So for now, I’ll just continue to fantasize about a world where one can get a cart full of groceries for under $10. I’ll certainly never witness it in its entirety.

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April Fools’ Day: Yeah, We Get It

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What was once a harmless, mostly forgotten “holiday” has now gone completely out of control. This may sound a bit harsh, but I’m going to say it anyway.

Hey, Internet companies. Shut up.

Yes, indulging in a harmless April Fool’s Joke shows that your company has a whimsical side…but enough is enough. The internet’s involvement in April Fools’ Day has gone beyond the realm of entertaining and now borders on trite. Companies now feel like they must be involved in some prank in order to—I don’t know—be relatable? Show their fun side?

Instead, surfing the internet on the first of April is like having a ton of people yelling “Look at me! Look at me!” over and over again at the same time.

And I get it. Going “viral” is the new big goal. I think we all saw how fast the HOPA girl who quit her job went viral. And then sighed to ourselves when we found how it was a hoax and how easy it was for the creators to make it so popular. How many companies said to themselves, “I could do that.”

But corporate companies do not have as much freedom as sites such as theCHIVE. Their reputations would be sullied by cheap attempts at creating an overnight traffic spike. Except on April Fool’s Day. It’s become the one day that companies have an excuse to use cheap tricks to try to boost traffic.

It was fun at first, but it’s getting kind of old. Knock it off.

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