Peter A Clarke

That mobile apps are a privacy worry has moved from speculation through to allegation and are moving into the realm of a truism.  Regulators have known about this for years and have in 2013/14 raised concerns, conducted reviews and surveys to highlight the problems with mobile apps.  Those problems include non existent to poor privacy policies, failure to notify users of what will be done with their personal information, generally poor security, inadequate protections when transmitting information across wifi networks and poor quality software.  In US man charged for selling spyware phone app the problem is even more concerning, an app designed to be installed by another person for the purpose of intercepting communications, including Read the rest of this entry »

The Privacy Commissioner has today issued a statement about the Bourne Again Shell (BASH) vulnerability that has caused more than a few waves within the IT community in the last week or so.  The statement Read the rest of this entry »

The Shellshock flaw has sent more than a ripple through the IT industry. There is a data protection regulation issue involved as well.  The genesis of the problem is a flaw in longstanding software, Bash, which was first installed in 1989.  Given the software enables users to issue commands to computers an exploitable weakness is of particular concern.  Exploitable flaws in ubiquitous software which is now part of the structure of many operating systems pose immediate cyber security threats and require immediate response when detected.  The Age in  Shellshock: The latest security superbug explained provides an exellent explanation.  In addition there has been coverage at Shellshock flaw ‘intertwined’ with modern internet, may affect some Mac users,  Shellshock: How to protect your Unix, Linux and Mac servers,  Shellshock makes Heartbleed look insignificant and Shellshock flaw ‘intertwined’ with modern internet, may affect some Mac users.

The seriousness of the threat has prompted the Information Commissioner’s Office in the United Kingdom to issue a release under the heading ICO highlights need to apply security updates after Shellshock flaw discovered which provides:

The Information Commissioner’s Office is urging organisations and individuals to make sure that their IT systems are up-to-date.

The warning comes after the identification of a flaw, referred to by the researchers who discovered it as Shellshock, which has been found in a software component called Bash. Bash is a part of many Linux systems, as well as the OS X operating system used by Apple Macs. The flaw potentially allows any computer with the vulnerability to be taken control of remotely. Read the rest of this entry »

Two articles, Cirque du Soleil Is Incorporating Drones and Filmmakers Get Permission to Use Drones in the U.S. highlight how ubiquitous drones are becoming; becoming part of a show and another way to get that perfect angle for a movie.

An article in the Smithsonian titled The Invention of the “Snapshot” Changed the Way We Viewed the World draws the comparison of the onset of drones and their privacy intrusive capabilities with the invention of Kodak’s personal camera.  It is a very useful historical comparison between the advent of an early valuable piece of technology which had an impact on privacy and the latest development.  The rapid take up of Read the rest of this entry »

ACMA announced that Channel Nine breached the factual accuracy and privacy clauses of the Commercial Television Code of Practice.

The media announcement

The announcement provides Read the rest of this entry »

Home Depot’s announcement of a massive data breach highlights the need for proper data security. The announcment Read the rest of this entry »

Pro publica in Stanford Promises Not to Use Google Money for Privacy Research  reports on Google providing funding to Stanford University’s Centre for Internet and Security provided that it does not use it to undertake privacy research.  Tied grants are usually Read the rest of this entry »

RINF in Drone Nation: 300 companies and public bodies using arial surveillance tech (not my spelling of aerial)  and the Independent in Drones are filling Britain’s skies: Look up now to see what is looking back down at youreports on the soaring, pun intended, use of drones in British skys and the consequential call for greater privacy protections.  The reportage is consistent with earlier reports and articles, that the increasing affordability of drones and their constantly improving ability to remain aloft for longer and longer and perform more and more functions make them a valuable tool for many businesses and governmental authorities. The problem has always been the inability of government to set out coherent and enforceable regulations to allow their use but also protect competing interests and rights of others.  Clearly privacy is Read the rest of this entry »

The Economist has taken an interest in privacy issues for some time now.  Its latest offering focuses on adversting and its use of cyber tracking devices, such as cookies and surveillance tools such as beacons in Stalkers, Inc.  It further covers the issue in Little Brother.  The USA privacy landscape is looser than in Australia and the polar opposite to that which exists in Europe.  The key exposure for Read the rest of this entry »

The media has spilt several barrels of ink over the  the unauthorised access of nude and otherwise compromising photographs of various celebrities in icloud, notably Jennifer Lawrence, with Nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and other celebs posted by hacker  and Jennifer Lawrence nude photo backlash: online community slams privacy breach withthe cybersecurity consequences in Celebrity nude photo theft: How to make sure your phone’s photos stay secure and Andrew Hornery: Jennifer Lawrence pics aren’t the scandal, lack of iCloud security is just to name a few articles. After short pause there is another reported breach of cyber security of Read the rest of this entry »