Privacy & You - News about Privacy Laws & Policies

[privacylawnews]

The Patents Behind Facebook’s Scary Accurate Friend Suggestions...

Have you ever heard of people receiving Facebook “friend suggestions” that were so accurate that they were creepy? Maybe one night they attended a party and only talked to one person, then somehow  woke up the next morning to find that Facebook had  suggested the person friend-request them!

It happens more often than you think, and there is a perfectly legal reason for it! The social media site uses technology to connect two people based on the metadata from cameras used to upload photos and the data embedded into those pictures (data like GPS coordinates where the picture was taken). Even scratches and dust marks in the pictures could be used to identify a specific camera that was used to take the picture.

Facebook is legally allowed to do all of this, but people only know that the company even had the idea to do that because of a series of patents they filed in 2014 and 2015.  If someone else uses their invention (in this case the technology) without permission, they can be taken to court and sued!

One of the patents is titled ‘Systems and methods for utilizing wireless communications to suggest connections for a user’ and explains how logged smartphone data can be used to make friend recommendations. The algorithm incorporates other information as well, like the amount of time between two wireless communications (uploading and receiving a photo) or the signal strength at the time of the data exchange.  With those seemingly impersonal bits of information, Facebook is able to recognize and identify when two people are walking together or facing each other.

Another of the patents is titled ‘Associating cameras with users and objects in a social networking system’ and highlights how data from photos uploaded to the site can be used to connect people. The ‘data’ that is compared isn’t just 1s and 0s… The patent details how the information used to identify the photographer could be as simple as a file name or as complex as a dust particle on a camera lens that appears in the same place in multiple photos (which suggest they were taken by the same camera, like a photographic fingerprint).

Even if the processes Facebook patented are lawful, what are the implications for non-users that get identified by the algorithm?  Imagine this:

You’re a privacy hound who doesn’t use social media sites because you like to control the use of your data simply because you don’t like mega corporations.  Let’s say you’re also a photographer, and you post photos to a website.  If a fan of yours shared a photo on Facebook and labeled you as the photographer, would Facebook have a legal right to identify other pictures you’d taken with the same camera even if you weren’t the person uploading them to the website? What could a non-user do to fight this system?  Explain your answers.  If you need more information first, you can read the article this piece was sourced from here:  

http://in.pcmag.com/facebook/118580/news/facebook-can-track-you-using-the-dust-and-scratches-on-your

Contributed by - J. Plummer

[privacylawnews]

Warrantless Spying...

Did you know that there is a law in the United States that allows for warrantless surveillance between people in the U.S. and in foreign countries. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is pending reauthorization from Congress. Some want to reform this piece of legislation in order to prevent dragnet surveillance, backdoor searches of phone and email records, and unlawful targeting of communities of color and immigrant communities. . This law is due to expire this year and would go away, unless Congress reauthorizes a provision.

This is an issue of privacy and national security. It is an issue of national security because often times it was through this piece that the government watches over conversations between people in the U.S. and people in foreign countries. This is a topic that has sparked quite the discussion! Let us know what you think!

https://www.wired.com/story/warrantless-us-spying-is-set-to-expire-soon-let-it-die/

[privacylawnews]

Shh...The Apps Are Listening!

Are your mobile phone’s apps listening to you?  You might not think so, and yet a recent article on Wired.com reports that there’s a good chance your phone is listening to you right now as your read this article

Disclaimer: If you are reading this in Project REAL’s App, rest assured we are not listening to you, and encourage you to check our app’s permission settings in your phone if you would like verification.

According to the article, a large amount of the most downloaded apps in the iTunes, Google Play, and Windows Apps stores require users to grant them permission to access a phone’ s microphone.  This permission is then used by the app to listen for ‘ultrasonic beacons’ - sounds the human ear can’t detect that trigger a reaction in the app.  If you’re familiar with Shazam, imagine if you were home listening to music while doing your homework and you opened the app to find it had not only recorded every song that played while you listened, but ordered those songs from an online music store!

To some this revelation is concerning, though to others it just doesn’t matter.  Perhaps you don’t mind if a McDonalds app hears an ultrasonic frequency that lets it know you skipped school to catch a matinee of the new movie you’ve been dying to see.  Perhaps they’ll use that information to decide to partner with the film’s producers if there’s a sequel.  What if you have an app from your workplace on your phone and it tells your employers you were at a movie on a day you called in sick?  Suddenly, the thought of your phone listening for ultrasonic beacons without your consent each time becomes rather frightening, doesn’t it?

We’d like to hear from you:  Should there be laws preventing these techniques?  Should consumers have a right to be notified every time an app wishes to listen for beacons?  Should there be time limits (where an app can only listen for so much time after each authorization to do so)?  Let us know your policy and law related thoughts on this story in the comments.

If you’d like to know more about marketing beacons and their interactions with your mobile phone, you can find the original Wired.com article here:

https://www.wired.com/2017/05/hundreds-apps-can-listen-beacons-cant-hear/

[privacylawnews]

Experts Say Leaking Information is as American as Apple Pie?!

In some cases, leaks have changed the course of American history while shaping the nation’s laws. There are a number of statutes that criminalize leaking information, yet not all leaks are necessarily criminal.

Leaks in modern history that are certain to remain historically notable include those of Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, Shadow Brokers’ NSA Hacking tools data dump, and the early days of The Trump Presidential Administration.  Despite taking up significantly more air time in media outlets, the majority of leaks from the offices of President Trump remain unsubstantiated.  The leaks of Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and the Shadow Brokers have had an immediate and lasting impact on American history.  In the case of Edward Snowden, we encourage students to read our book ‘The Government, Privacy, and You’ (available in our app which can be found at http://projectrealnv.org).  As of the publication date of this post, Mr. Snowden remains in Russia with the possibility of being charged with treason, espionage, and criminal release of classified information hanging over his head.

Chelsea Manning - who was recently released from prison following a presidential order of clemency issued by President Barack Obama in his last days in office - released information to WikiLeaks that had significant impacts on American foreign policy.  Most notably, Manning released a video of an airstrike in Afghanistan in which over 80 civilians were killed by US forces after the details of the operation had been held back from public release, and the release of diplomatic communications which (upon their release) resulted in many of the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings of 2010-2012.

The Shadow Brokers was a hacker collective that released reports and files created by the NSA.  The information included a number of tools and exploits that could be used to monitor or control people’s personal electronic devices.  Following the Edward Snowden leaks (which revealed the US government had digitally programs that involved at least the possibility of domestic surveillance), the implication of the Shadow Brokers release was that the NSA had tools for spying not just on terror suspects but American citizens.

These are just a few examples of leaks that changed the history of America and the perception of the administrations in power at the time of their release. 

Republican, Democrat, Independent, Liberal, Conservative, or Moderate - information leaks have impacted administrations and governments of all types throughout American history.  Let us know your reflections on how the government handles information and leaks in the comments, but first consider reading about some other interesting leaks that occurred in American history here: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/why-leaking-information-american-apple-pie-n724466?cid=public-rss_20170226

[privacylawnews]

Did Russia Consider Returning Snowden to the US? We May Never Know...

In February 2017, reports were circulating that Russia was considering sending Edward Snowden back to the US “as a gift for President Donald Trump” as reported by NBC.  At the time, NBC cited an unnamed senior US official who has reviewed intelligence on the matter.

Edward Snowden has lived in Russia since 2013 and recently launched a campaign with his legal team to get him pardoned. Snowden still faces being charged with leaking classified information and treason for his pivotal role in the months-long releases of information about America’s digital surveillance programs, should he return to the United States. 

In April 2017 however, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said publically that Edward Snowden can stay in Russia until he decides to leave for himself.  When asked, Zakharova did not clarify on if Russia would consider extraditing Snowden to the U.S. at a later point in time. 

This post is about more than just an update to a news story about privacy law and policy.  The difference in tone, content, and conclusion (or lack thereof) between the stories should lead readers to question the reliability of news stories that speculate.  In an age where people of all political leanings and affiliations make claims of fake news, we encourage the students we connect with to consume all media - no matter the source - with critical eyes.   To start, we suggest looking at both sources that were used in the creation of this post:

You can find the story with comments made by Russia’s ministry here: http://www.newsweek.com/snowden-will-decide-himself-if-he-leaves-russia-591645

The original report suggesting Russia was acitvely looking to ‘gift’ Snowden to the Trump administration may be viewed here:  https://www.cnet.com/news/russia-mulls-returning-snowden-to-us-report-says/#ftag=CAD590a51e