Filter posts by:
affordance affordances app Apple application artificial intelligence big data China data data privacy data protection deepfake DNA new media privacy Siri surveillance technology WhatsApp Zao
On the Possibility of Preserved Privacy: The Case of Google Photos

On the Possibility of Preserved Privacy: The Case of Google Photos

Today we live in a hyper-connected world with constant online activity. This lends itself to the accumulation of unprecedented data of and about people, dubbed “Big Data”. Google is a key part of this ecosystem and Google Photos is...
By on 10/05/21 Comments Off on On the Possibility of Preserved Privacy: The Case of Google Photos
The HTTP Cookie Monster: Internet Privacy Concerns and Social Awareness of Data Protection

The HTTP Cookie Monster: Internet Privacy Concerns and Social Awareness of Data Protection

In their article titled, “A Reality Check(list) for Digital Methods”, Venturini et al. present the compelling argument that the collection, analysis, and exchange of “Big Data” has become increasingly prevalent within media environments, consequently altering the nature of online spaces (Venturini,...
By Maria Vittoria Ravaioli on 10/03/21 Comments Off on The HTTP Cookie Monster: Internet Privacy Concerns and Social Awareness of Data Protection
“Hey Siri, are you sharing my private data”: A commentary on the impact virtual personal assistants have on surveillance capitalism and user information consumption

“Hey Siri, are you sharing my private data”: A commentary on the impact virtual personal assistants have on surveillance capitalism and user information consumption

For a digitally immersed society driven by technological developments and innovations, personal voice-controlled virtual assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri have become a crucial component to task completion, user interaction, and information consumption. Virtual personal...
By on 10/03/21 Comments Off on “Hey Siri, are you sharing my private data”: A commentary on the impact virtual personal assistants have on surveillance capitalism and user information consumption
BETWEEN ZOOM-MEETINGS AND SKYPE CALLS: HOW VIDEO CONFERENCING HAS BECOME THE SOCIAL GLUE OF A PANDEMIC

BETWEEN ZOOM-MEETINGS AND SKYPE CALLS: HOW VIDEO CONFERENCING HAS BECOME THE SOCIAL GLUE OF A PANDEMIC

Communication has changed dramatically since COVID-19 spread. Many countries have adopted different degrees of quarantine and remote work is on the rise. Social contact has been dramatically shortened. In the following lines, a discussion will be developed on the...
By Sandy Rafaela Krambeck on 10/21/20 Comments Off on BETWEEN ZOOM-MEETINGS AND SKYPE CALLS: HOW VIDEO CONFERENCING HAS BECOME THE SOCIAL GLUE OF A PANDEMIC

Cloud computing: Shadow, the line between privacy and illegality

With the introduction of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu or Disney+ a new era of  cloud computing emerged. After the already existing cloud storage services, for example GoogleDrive, you now too can stream your favorite films through the...
By on 09/28/20 Comments Off on Cloud computing: Shadow, the line between privacy and illegality
Signal – Speaking with no one listening

Signal – Speaking with no one listening

Signal is a messaging app that has been around since 2013. It is said to be one of the most secure messaging apps on the market. Whistleblower Edward Snowden uses it daily and describes Signal as the safest messaging...
By Alexandra Hagedorn on 09/28/20 Comments Off on Signal – Speaking with no one listening
Don’t Leave the Light On: Visualizing Privacy in iOS14

Don’t Leave the Light On: Visualizing Privacy in iOS14

The iOS14 update offers new forms of visualizing privacy, through features such as the camera indicator light and (still forthcoming) opt-in tracking. Rather than put pressure on the developer, these features act to visualize the continued shift of power...
By Max Buzzell on 09/28/20 Comments Off on Don’t Leave the Light On: Visualizing Privacy in iOS14
“Encrypt your face”: protestors Signal digital data privacy fears with new face-blurring feature

“Encrypt your face”: protestors Signal digital data privacy fears with new face-blurring feature

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, protestors flocked to encrypted messaging application (“app”) Signal to plan events and share content. In response, a new tool was quickly released that allows faces to be blurred in photos. These events...
By Paul Bugeja on 09/28/20 Comments Off on “Encrypt your face”: protestors Signal digital data privacy fears with new face-blurring feature
Covid-19 Contact Tracing Apps: a Threat or a Solution?

Covid-19 Contact Tracing Apps: a Threat or a Solution?

In the last few months, we have witnessed a new wave of technological innovations with the goal to help contain the Covid-19 pandemic, including contact tracing applications developed by numerous countries to track the contamination cases and help identify...
By Kenza Sabri on 09/27/20 Comments Off on Covid-19 Contact Tracing Apps: a Threat or a Solution?
No card, No Phone, No problem! Alipay: Pay with your face, A balance between convenience, security and privacy

No card, No Phone, No problem! Alipay: Pay with your face, A balance between convenience, security and privacy

Can you imagine that you are able to pay without mobile phones, bank cards, and cash? Alipay made it happen in 2017, and it provides the facial recognition payment that lets people make payments by scanning their faces. In...
By on 09/27/20 Comments Off on No card, No Phone, No problem! Alipay: Pay with your face, A balance between convenience, security and privacy
Fawkes: “Cloaking” Your Photos to Elude Facial Recognition Systems

Fawkes: “Cloaking” Your Photos to Elude Facial Recognition Systems

For too long we have lived under the fear brought by the deepfake. In that case, it’s time for us to meet the photo-editing tool, Fawkes. Since the deepfake is generally based on images, Fawkes can fool the AI...
By on 09/27/20 Comments Off on Fawkes: “Cloaking” Your Photos to Elude Facial Recognition Systems
The Personalization – Privacy Paradox of the Meditation App Balance 

The Personalization – Privacy Paradox of the Meditation App Balance 

Meditation has been practiced for more than 5000 years, but the last decade people have started meditating with the help of their smartphones. With the arrival of the internet people progressively are sharing and seeking help for their mental...
By on 09/29/19 Comments Off on The Personalization – Privacy Paradox of the Meditation App Balance 
App Store Killer? The Storm of WeChat Mini Programs Swept Over The Mobile App Ecosystem

App Store Killer? The Storm of WeChat Mini Programs Swept Over The Mobile App Ecosystem

Are you a “app for everything” type of guy? How many apps you have installed on your phone? For me, there are 85! Have you ever imagined accessing to all of these apps just through one single entry point?...
By Xiaoxuan Ma on 09/23/19 Comments Off on App Store Killer? The Storm of WeChat Mini Programs Swept Over The Mobile App Ecosystem
Bluetooth and Its Mutation Into a Surveillance Tool

Bluetooth and Its Mutation Into a Surveillance Tool

The almighty Facebook corporation has announced its entrance into the dating industry using bluetooth, facilitating the social network with yet another facet of user-generated data. In the past, this repurposing of the Bluetooth technology as an actor within the...
By on 09/22/19 Comments Off on Bluetooth and Its Mutation Into a Surveillance Tool
The Worrisome Biometrics: Deepfakes, ZAO and Privacy Issue

The Worrisome Biometrics: Deepfakes, ZAO and Privacy Issue

In early September, a face-swapping app called ZAO attracted universal attention in China. Using the technology of “Deepfakes”, it allows users to swap their faces into famous characters’ in the film and TV show clips. ZAO prevailed like the...
By on 09/22/19 Comments Off on The Worrisome Biometrics: Deepfakes, ZAO and Privacy Issue
“Hey, Siri…” “I am listening…”: Apple, Privacy & Siri

“Hey, Siri…” “I am listening…”: Apple, Privacy & Siri

Summer 2019 was quite eventful for virtual assistants across platforms. The big five all got exposed for recording their virtual assistant users’ audio, Apple among them. Such revelations prompt the prior mentioned company to at first temporarily suspend the...
By Anna Strelkova on 09/22/19 Comments Off on “Hey, Siri…” “I am listening…”: Apple, Privacy & Siri
Deepfakes, Privacy Paradoxes and Black Boxes

Deepfakes, Privacy Paradoxes and Black Boxes

“I do worry about my privacy,” Huang said. “Because no one cares about my data when I’m a nobody. But if people think they can make money from my information, it makes me worry about the security of my...
By on 09/22/19 Comments Off on Deepfakes, Privacy Paradoxes and Black Boxes
Digital resistance: A brief introduction to decentralized data-right movements

Digital resistance: A brief introduction to decentralized data-right movements

This post provides a brief introduction to collective organization as a form of resistance, whose ambition is overcoming technological determinism and creating new paths to re-define our relationship with “new” technologies, connecting the labor and knowledge of so many...
By Marta Espuny on 09/22/19 Comments Off on Digital resistance: A brief introduction to decentralized data-right movements
Genetic Genealogy: Will your DNA have a life of its own?

Genetic Genealogy: Will your DNA have a life of its own?

Genetic Genealogy is a novel method to link DNA from a crime scene to DNA stored on Genealogy websites such as MyHeritage, 23andMe and GEDmatch. It has the potential to solve many cold cases, but on a Web that...
By Rimmert Sijtsma on 09/22/19 Comments Off on Genetic Genealogy: Will your DNA have a life of its own?
Smart Home Technologies and the Transformation Of Domestic Space

Smart Home Technologies and the Transformation Of Domestic Space

Since Gordon Moore’s prophetic law in 1965, in which he claimed that microchips would develop so that the speed would double while size would decrease every year, has allowed for the evolution of ubiquitous computing and its introduction into...
By Erika Grimes on 10/24/18 Comments Off on Smart Home Technologies and the Transformation Of Domestic Space
Vote yay or vote nay, but you just can’t ignore micro-targeting.

Vote yay or vote nay, but you just can’t ignore micro-targeting.

“Numbers and democracy have always been linked.”John Durham Peters proclaims, giving examples from Greek political systems to modern opinion surveys. He focuses on majority – the social force through numbers, that democracy uses to establish legitimacy (434). And when...
By Ketaki Chand on 09/24/18 Comments Off on Vote yay or vote nay, but you just can’t ignore micro-targeting.
Technology in the Workplace, Slack and Privacy Issues

Technology in the Workplace, Slack and Privacy Issues

(Figure 1, Screenshot of Slack website page. Source: Slack, 2018)   1)- Technology in the Workplace: “As innovations in technology continue to proliferate, employees working in the modern workplace have access to an ever-increasing number of new technologies” (Swaya...
By Meriam Telhig on 09/24/18 Comments Off on Technology in the Workplace, Slack and Privacy Issues
WhatsApp Doc? The alternative

WhatsApp Doc? The alternative

WhatsApp Doc? The privacy alternative Within the digital media environment, we nowadays live in, it is taken for granted that every piece of desired information will appear on your display within seconds. Even so, we are finger clicks away...
By Valérie van Mameren on 09/23/18 Comments Off on WhatsApp Doc? The alternative
The MinION DNA-scanner: More DNA, More Data, More Ethical Questions

The MinION DNA-scanner: More DNA, More Data, More Ethical Questions

Early this year British researchers first managed to read a complete DNA profile with a small device, the so-called MinION, which is as large as a USB stick. With this breakthrough and the invention of the device, it is...
By Lieve Keizer on 09/23/18 Comments Off on The MinION DNA-scanner: More DNA, More Data, More Ethical Questions