Privacy on the Internet

Privacy – So What?

You are already being tracked in many ways:
•	Employee security cards record when you enter and leave a building
•	Discount grocery programs record what, where, and when you buy
•	Electronic toll systems record your movement on highways and bridges
•	Cell phones pinpoint your location to a particular cell
•	Smart phone pinpoint your location to an address
•	Accessing city or travel websites tell where you are or where you are going

And there are many new methods: 
•	Federal law requires your wireless company to track you within a few yards for emergency purposes
•	Since the expensive technology is required, companies recoup their costs
•	Access a website with your wireless device and get weather, local movies, restaurants in the neighborhood, ATMs, and directions
•	The Digital Angel service monitors your body and sends distress calls and your location during medical emergencies
•	Unlike phone records, this information does not require a subpoena or law enforcement agency to be accessed

The Boston-based Pharmatrak company:
•	Contracts with 11 major pharmaceutical companies – all the biggies
•	Secretly tracks the web movements of all visitors to the 11 websites
•	Records the browsing habits of users who access information about venereal diseases and drug addiction
•	Says that it tracks users anonymously
•	But its own website states that in the future it may personally identify visitors

Photographs on the Internet:
•	Just because some stranger catches you in a photo doesn’t mean you want to posted and tagged on Facebook
•	Facebook’s stated policy is that they can share your photos with anyone – in fact, once you post them, Facebook owns them
•	Privacy laws don’t protect you if you are outside of your living quarters – you have no recourse
•	Phones and tablets with location services include longitude and latitude in the photo file metadata
•	Google Streetview catches both people and license plates – there can be misunderstandings

Cookies are a common concern:
•	First Party cookies originate with the website you visit
•	Tracking cookies are used by Google and others to follow you around the Internet
•	Third Party tracking cookies are used to compile long-term histories of your browsing that are sold to anyone who wants them
•	Evercookies resist deletion by copying themselves in different forms all over your computer
•	Flash cookies are used on the top 100 most visited sites – your Flash players stores them outside of your browser so you can’t delete them

Here's what Internet users think about privacy:
•	20% delete or clear their browser’s cookies once a month or less often, and 12% never delete them
•	41% say their primary reason for deleting cookies is to clean up their computer or improve its speed 
•	Only 15% delete cookies because of online tracking concerns
•	41% are unaware of any of the different types of cookies (i.e. 1st Party, 3rd Party, Flash/Local Storage)
•	Only half of consumers (50%) are aware of 1st Party Cookies.
•	94% want privacy violators to be punished

Here's more on what Internet users think about privacy:
•	87% are selective on which Web sites and applications they give personal information to
•	51% disagree that Web sites and applications are transparent about what they do with the data they collect
•	39% are unaware of the types of data that is being collected about them.
•	30% do not feel in control of personal information and privacy while online or know how to protect their privacy while online
•	70% are supportive of government regulation on how and what is tracked about consumers online
•	46% are unaware that some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and online services sell information about their behaviors.

Privacy in the Workplace

They know what you're doing at work:
•	10% of Internet users know someone who has been fired for improper web browsing or e-mail use
•	A Harvard dean was fired for downloading pornography to his office computer
•	The president of American University in Washington, D.C. was fired for making obscene and harassing phone calls from his office
•	Dow Chemical, Xerox, and the New York Times are among major companies that have fired people for inappropriate network use
•	American Management Association survey (2005) found:
•	55% retain and review e-mail messages (up from 38% in 2001).
•	76% monitor web browsing (up from 54% in 2001).
•	26% have fired employees fro misusing the Internet (up from 17% in 2001).
•	65% use software to block connections to inappropriate websites
•	36% track content, keystrokes, and time spent at the keyboard

What's their justification for monitoring?
•	Goofing off at work is nothing new
•	Companies say they have a legal right to control use of their equipment
•	The 1986 Electronic Communication Privacy Act gives employers the right to review e-mail
•	The primary reason is lost productivity on the job: "theft of payroll funds"
•	Avoid legal liabilities that stem from offensive e-mail or porn trading
•	Prevent leaks of confidential business information

How is this monitoring done?
•	The system administrators can do it, but that takes people and time
•	So various companies make software that do it:
•	Omniquad Desktop Surveillance
•	SoftEyes
•	SpectorSoft
•	Over 2000 companies nationwide use SpectorSoft alone
•	Captures a picture of the employee's computer screen every 30 seconds
•	But half of their sales are to people trying to discover if their spouses are cheating on them
•	Can also be used to record every keystroke
•	Software can also "filter" use:
•	May prevent access to pornography or e-commerce sites
•	Can be programmed to allow access during lunch or after hours
•	Can generate reports on individuals' web browsing

What about E-Commerce?

DoubleClick is the largest online ad agency
•	Has associations with thousands of websites
•	Each associated site recognizes cookies from the other sites
•	Announced plans in 2002 to merge with direct marketer Abacus Direct
•	Formulated plans to merge identity, web browsing, and traditional buying habits into one large database
•	Set off a flood of lawsuits and an investigation by the FTC
•	The FTC killed the deal and the merger was off
•	Google bought DoubleClick in April of 2007 for $3.1 billion in cash.
•	The deal would give Google access to DoubleClick’s advertisement software and its relationships with web publishers, advertisers, and ad agencies.
•	Several companies, including Yahoo, AT&T and Microsoft, encouraged regulators to take a close look at Google's planned purchase of online-ad company DoubleClick.
•	The FTC eventually approved the acquisition in December of 2007

What can be done to remedy the situation?
•	You remain anonymous – or do you?
•	The only thing that keeps them from entering personal data about you is their promise they will not
•	Privacy advocates say that technical safeguards are not enough
•	They want LEGAL safeguards