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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Spam, Spam Spam; Digital Afterlife - Google-style

Here are some late breaking (April, 2013) additions to Reality Bytes.

Spam, Spam, Spam ...

This post is especially short, because the source for it is Peter Lewis, and he is a much better writer and it is his personal story.  In the wake of the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 15, Peter began encountering new waves of spam which set his blood to boil.  One particularly distasteful and macabre batch used the tragedy in Boston to entice readers.  After a teaser message, readers were given a link to further information.  Clicking on a link would result in malicious software being loaded onto the computer.  Another wave involved email received through Facebook.  By referencing one person that Peter knew, the Facebook email tried appear legitimate -- an extension of Facbook's "friend of a friend" connectivity designed to build ever wider circles of interaction among users.  The Facebook email, however, also contained a malicious link.  Peter dashed off a hasty post to his Facebook friend:   “Friends don’t let Facebook friends spam other Facebook Friends." You can read Peter's full, much more colorful story in his column Words & Ideas at www.peterlewis.com or at this link

Planning Your Digital Afterlife -- Google-style

I have written before about the digital footprint that we all are creating and will leave behind when we die.  Examples:  Personal information, photographs and other memorabilia on Facebook or other social media, customer accounts with online services like iTunes or Amazon, playlists on Spotify, and personal files stored in the "cloud" that may back up everything from personal journals to your banking and tax records.  Not to mention the digital archive of email, Twitter posts, listservs, and blogs like Reality Bytes.  There are significant issues over who controls all this after you are gone.  There are contractual agreements with providers of these services in cyberspace.  Some states have enacted statutes to establish who has authority over and rights to these digital remains.  Maryland is considering such legislation.

Now, one of the most significant players in this domain, Google, has set forth a policy that it labels: "Plan your digital afterlife with Inactive Account Manager".  Google begins this policy statement by saying:

Not many of us like thinking about death — especially our own. But making plans for what happens after you’re gone is really important for the people you leave behind. So today, we’re launching a new feature that makes it easy to tell Google what you want done with your digital assets when you die or can no longer use your account.

What follows is really the introduction to an application, the aforementioned Inactive Account Manager (" not a great name, we know"), which enables Google users to make decisions about what data Google will delete or deliver to trusted contacts.  Giving you some idea of the scope of this application, Google states that this services covers:

data from some or all of the following services: +1s; Blogger; Contacts and Circles; Drive; Gmail; Google+ Profiles, Pages and Streams; Picasa Web Albums; Google Voice and YouTube.

"Inactive" is certainly an interesting euphemism for death, but Google has a verification warning before it will do anything with your information.  It will send a text message to your cellphone and an email to your secondary address provided to Google.  You may have noticed, as I did, a recent prompt from Google when you logged in asking you to update, verify or provide a cellphone number and a secondary email address.  There is sort of leap of faith here that you have both a cellphone and a secondary email address, but it is probably the most reasonable approach.

I would urge all readers to check out Inactive Account Manager and post any comments or questions online at this blog.

POSTSCRIPT:
I actually went and set up the Inactive Account Manager for my Google services, which include this blog.  This took about 10 minutes.  It involves choosing some preferences and providing information on how you want Google to try and contact you if you have not used your account(s) for the period of time that you have chosen and on who you want to have access to your digital remains on the Google services mentioned above.  You need a cellphone number that Google can text and an email by which Google can contact the trusted digital caretakers for your data.


This may not mesh perfectly with the legal administration of your estate, but Google seems to have provided a fairly simple method for users to handle a portion of their digital afterlife.
 

Monday, April 1, 2013

Spring 2013 - Faces, Conversations, Cyber Footprints & Maps

I missed an installment last fall, so some I am reaching back a bit to cover things that I notice at the end of last year and then moving forward into this year:

I've Just Seen A Face

One of my favorite ways to keep up with technology is to listen to the daily podcast from Marketplace Tech Report.  Back in October they ran an interesting story about facial recognition scanning at a shopping mall in South Korea.
This new commercial application of face-recognition technology combines digital photography with computer search algorithms.  A digital camera captures a photograph of your face as you walk by and the search engine searches for your image on the various databases, including social media, like Facebook and Google+ or new photographic social applications such as Instagram.  The objective is to identify the individual in the original image and any associated data available for that person.  Put  more simply, the objective is to cash in on your identity.

In this context, identity means facts about you that people will pay money to know.  Who would pay for this information?  People who want to use those facts to sell you something.  Follow the money.

Thus, the Korean shopping mall installed these facial recognition kiosks.  After capturing and searching a person's image, there follows an instantaneously display advertising directed specifically to person's interests when matched to the products sold at the mall.  The technology matches a person's likely shopping interests with the retailers located in the mall.  If you like the books, it could display an ad for mall's bookstore (if there still is one in the mall).  If the search finds that you have an interest in outdoor activities, it may display on ad for sporting goods or outdoor activities store.  If a birthday or anniversary is coming up in your family, it could display gift suggestions -- jewelry, ties, toys.

The facial recognition technology is out there, although you may think it exists only in movies or with secret government anti-terrorist squads.  And, you may doubt that you put this kind of bankable personal information out there to be found by an search engine.

Maybe that is true.  Maybe if you are Luddite who lives off the grid (and therefore are unlikely to be walking into a shopping mall in any event).  True, there are some out there who have resisted the temptation of Facebook or Twitter or Google+ or Instagram, etc.  But there are millions upon millions out there using social media.  And, what about LinkedIn?  Or, does your firm or business have a website with your picture and profile on it?  What about your children? Have they "tagged" you in photographs that they posted on Facebook?  Or perhaps your loving parents are on Facebook and have posted some of their family pictures?

It is not easy to remain obscure and faceless these days.  You may be surprised to find out what information about you is out there.  Search engines are able to search it and advertisers are able to use those searches to identify you and your likes.  How do you think Google makes its money?  It is not a non-profit.  The information that you search for through Google reveals your interests and Google channels search results and advertisements to your search result page based on those interests.  So do not be surprised if you walk into a mall or shopping center in the near future and find a kiosk flashing pictures of products directed specifically to your attention.

Big Brother Part I

The Baltimore Sun reported last fall that the Mass Transit Administration (MTA) has been eavesdropping on its drivers and passengers.  The stated purpose is to achieve greater security and safety on public transportation.  The MTA believes that this technology will aid in investigating crimes on public transportation.

"We want to make sure people feel safe, and this builds up our arsenal of tools to keep our patrons safe," said Ralign Wells, MTA administrator. "The audio completes the information package for investigators and responders."

Of course, this is often the stated goal of surveillance of all kinds.  The legal issues with other types of surveillance also are engaged here:  privacy and possible misuse of information.  Arguably, privacy is addressed by the fact that this is public transportation, so there should be no expectation of privacy.  In application, however, it may not be so clear.

More of a concern, however, is what the MTA does with the information that it gathers.  Much of it will have nothing to do with a crime, intended or perpetrated.  Much of it may be everyday conversation about mundane affairs.  Somewhere in the middle, however, is likely to be information of a sensitive nature, something that people did not intend to be public knowledge.  What if the conversation has nothing to do with safety on the MTA, but does involve criminal activity elsewhere?  What if it deals with something very personal to the passenger or driver, something that they may have told another in confidence, but now finds its way into the MTA surveillance database?

Buses have had surveillance cameras for years.  Voice recording microphones are now being incorporated.  Signage on the business lets drivers and passengers know.

The State's Attorney Office thinks that the system passes legal muster.  The ACLU disagrees:

"People don't want or need to have their private conversations recorded by MTA as a condition of riding a bus," said David Rocah, a staff attorney with the Maryland chapter of the ACLU. "A significant number of people have no viable alternative to riding a bus, and they should not be forced to give up their privacy rights."

State legislators have indicated that they will look at this issue.  Next, time you ride the MTA, be careful what you say and do.

Big Brother II

If you are worried that the MTA is listening to your conversations on the bus, you have some sympathy for what happened to General David H.Patraeus, who resigned last year as Director of the CIA after disclosure of an extra-marital affair.  The extra-marital affair part is certainly scandalous enough, but what maybe more shocking is how Patraeus was undone by a series of events when law enforcement and government investigators looked into his activity in cyberspace.  The New York Times covered the details in a News Analysis piece last November.  The Times correctly noted that cyberspace investigations can rapidly escalate far beyond their original, often limited, scope simply because of the wealth of information that is exposed by even a relatively focused inquiry.  All of the data and information that we have sitting on our computers and online suddenly may fall under the eyes of investigators looking for something entirely different.  The Times article notes that the ACLU seems to be lamenting Patraeus undoing, at least as to the investigate methods used and the privacy rights trampled (if not an endorsement of Patraeus himself, with whom the the ACLU may have other concerns).  It is also highly ironic that America's spy chief (the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency) was undone by cyber investigators combing through his email.  Perhaps, as the Times notes, it is better that our law enforcement folks caught up with Patraeus before another country's spies did.

Lost

Since passing of Steve Jobs, Apple has moved forward under new leadership.  No doubt some new Apple developments were in the pipeline before Jobs died and he had some degree of influence and role in the decision making.  I doubt, however, that he would have approved of the launch of the Apple Maps application.

This is old news now for many of us who have Apple devices and for those you follow Apple's latest product changes and development.  For those who need a quick summary, last year Apple launched a new version of its operating system for iPods, iPhones and iPads, designated iOS 6.0.  This new operating system brought may improvements to Apple mobile devices.  It also brought a significant change is a key default application that Apple installs in all its devices.

When you get a new iPod, iPhone or iPad now, it comes with these native applications pre-installed.  They include basic Apple apps for email, text messaging, the Apple App store, contacts, and now Apple's application for finding places and getting directions, simple called Maps.

Until iOS 6.0, Apple had used Google Maps as its native geographic application.  Each of these applications has several basic functions: looking up addresses or points of interest, in your locality or around the world and displaying them on a map; using Geo-positioning software ("GPS") in the device to coordinate with your current location and provide a set of directions to your destination.  The new generation of these applications competes directly with commercial GPS devices by adding a voice-over that narrates step by step instructions for reaching you destination.

The Google Maps mobile application came with a long track record of success behind it from similar software on Google's website.  Many people (including me) loved Google Maps online and loved its mobile app on devices.

Apple, however, had a kind of love/hate relationship with the Google Maps app.  It was a wonderful addition to the native applications that came with your Apple device, but Google was competing with Apple in the mobile device arena by developing and promoting its operating system for Android  mobile devices.

So Apple began the development process to replace Google Maps on its devices with a native Apple Maps app.  Apple even went so far as to eliminate the choice to use Goggle Maps.  Everyone knew this was coming, including Google.  It was no surprise that Apple wanted to do this.  The surprise came in how poorly Apple Maps performed its basic function, finding where you are and where want to go.

Apple's interface for its Maps app is somewhat different from the Google Maps app that customers knew and loved.  Arguably, Apple made some improvements in the interface, which is somewhat easier to read and use, particularly if you are driving and trying to follow the directions, either visually or audibly.  Apple also took advantage of its Siri voice feature to give verbal versions of your directions.

The problem, however, is that very often the directions that Apple Maps provides are wrong.  Within days of the release of iOS 6.0, commentary in print and cyberspace was buzzing with complaints and examples of how faulty the Apple search results were.  One example sticks clearly in my mind.  The Apple Maps misplaced an Apple store in a major U.S. city, putting in on the wrong side of the street.

Here is my own personal comparison.  By chance, before in downloaded iOS 6.0 on my iPhone, I took a trip to Maine with my wife to attend a wedding and then vacation and site see, as we had never been to Maine before.  As we were renting a car, we took along a GPS and we had our iPhones.  It turned out that the GPS was set on a "minimalist" setting for verbal directions and did not update you frequently with repetitive step by step instructions.  Instead, it would remain silent for long periods and then suddenly announced "In 200 feet, turn right".  As we had borrowed the GPS, neither my wife or I wanted to changes the settings, least we forgot to set them back (or forgot how to set them back) when we returned it.

So we followed the maps on the GPS, but I also used my iPhone and the Google Maps app to locate our designation and directions, so we could anticipate where we were going.  The Google Maps app did not replace the GPS, but it was unfailingly correct in determining our destination and plotting us a course that led exactly to the place were were going.  We used this repeatedly all over Maine and into Canada without an error.

When we returned home, I downloaded iOS 6.0 with the Apple Maps app.  In its initial performance, it was batting about .250.  It can get you to the general vicinity of your destination, but it errs frequently when it tries to close in on the exact location.  And the errors can be somewhat dangerous.

Here is the most egregious example.  I was going to a client's house for a meeting.  I had not been in several years, so I put the address into my iPhone and Apple Maps provided a set of directions.  All was fine until I was nearly at the client's home.  Apple Maps indicated that I should make a left turn onto the client's street from the road on which I was traveling.  I slowed down looking for the left turn, but did not see it.  I reached another street that looked familiar, but it was not the client's street.  The app said that I had passed the client's street, so I turned around and back tracked, still looking for the client's street, now on the right.  No turn appeared.  I reversed direction again.  No luck.  I finally turned down the road that looked familiar and found the client's street about a quarter mile down this road, which was not in Apple Maps directions.

When I finished my meeting, I went down the client's street a little further in the direction of the main road, looking again for the intersection where I was supposed to turn.  All I found was a dead-end.  The client's street did not intersect the road that the Apple app said it did.

Apple finally had to make a public apology for these glaring defects in its search functions and mapping directions.  It scrambled to improve Apple Maps, with some success.  More recently, Apple finally conceded and brought back the new and improved free Google Maps application on the Apple platform.  I recently used both Apple Maps and Google Maps on another trip to new places, this time Southern California, sometimes using them simultaneously. Apple Maps is greatly improved and I will concede that I am not as familiar with it, as I have gone back to Google Maps since it became available.  Still, I would give Google Maps a higher rating.

Many people said that this would have never happened if Steve Jobs was still around.  May be so.  This was a major embarrassment for Apple and at least one key Apple executive responsible for the Apple Maps launch departed Apple in the wake of its rudderless debut.  Apple has fixed Apple Maps and it is a more respectable piece of software now.  But Apple also had to concede a place to Google Maps in the Apple Apps Store and on Apple devices.  In the end that was probably better that than have users defect to Android phones to find there way to destinations new and old.