Salon.com > tracking

Ghost towns of the Web

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:31:00 +0000

In this week's installment of slimy games that scamster Web publishers play, AdWeek's Mike Shields delivers a fascinating bit of reporting that fully delivers on its great headline: "Meet the Most Suspect Publishers on the Web: The rise of ghost sites, where traffic is huge but humans are few."

It's a lesson in state-of-the-art online flimflam, the generation of billions of advertising impressions and clicks through bot-generated traffic.

Increasingly, digital agencies and buy-side technology firms are seeing massive traffic and audience spikes from groups of Web publishers few people have ever heard of. These sites -- billed as legitimate media properties -- are built to look authentic on the surface, with generic, nonalarm-sounding content. But after digging deeper, it becomes evident that very little of these sites' audiences are real people. Yet big name advertisers are spending millions trying to reach engaged users on these properties.

Golden Gate surveillance

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:05:00 +0000

Another lurch forward into the all-surveillance-all-the-time society. As of March 27, the Golden Gate Bridge will no longer accept cash for tolls. If you want to cross between San Francisco and the Marin Headlands, better get your Fastrak account activated now.

Rest assured, if you don't have a Fastrak account, or you're a tourist or driving a rental car, you will still be allowed to cross the bridge. There are several ways to set up a one-time payment via credit card online either before or after driving across the Bay. And if you just whiz through the gates footloose and fancy free, Golden Gate Bridge cameras will automatically snap a picture of your license plate and mail the registered owner of your car an invoice.

So what do we think about this? I am not the kind of privacy absolutist who shuns all forms of electronic tagging as the mark of the beast. I've been a Fastrak user for many years and I love its convenience. I also appreciate that moving as many drivers to Fastrak as possible will speed up traffic on the Golden Gate. If I were a Golden Gate Bridge commuter, I'd probably be singing hosannas of praise.

FTC to mobile advertisers: Behave!

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:35:00 +0000

I'd love to take credit for the fact that just two weeks after my story on how mobile online advertisers are compiling detailed profiles of us through our smartphone apps, the FTC has released a report stuffed with recommendations as to how mobile platform companies, app developers and advertisers can "improve mobile privacy disclosures." But the truth is the FTC has been focused on the issue for years -- and understandably so, since the cutting edge of privacy is now in our pockets.

First, more than other types of technology, mobile devices are typically personal to an individual, almost always on, and with the user. This can facilitate unprecedented amounts of data collection. The data collected can reveal sensitive information, such as communications with contacts, search queries about health conditions, political interests, and other affiliations, as well as other highly personal information. This data also may be shared with third parties, for example, to send consumers behaviorally targeted advertisements.

FBI responds to ACLU with blank pages

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 18:49:00 +0000

Last year, following the Supreme Court ruling that law enforcement does not have the authority to put a warrantless GPS tracker on a suspect’s car, the ACLU compelled the FBI to detail other ways in which they were tracking individuals.

The ACLU sought the release of two memos via FOIA, one addressing how the FBI planned to track down GPS systems already placed on cars without violating the Supreme Court's ruling, and another memo which detailed other tracking methods used exempt from the GPS decision.

The Justice Deparment provided both memos, both redacted [see pdf] to the point that the documents contain little more than black boxes. As one commenter on technologist site ArsTechnica noted, "the FBI could have just photocopied 50 or so pages of someone's middle finger. It would convey more useful information than what they actually provided."

The ACLU registered their dissatisfaction last week: "The Justice Department’s unfortunate decision leaves Americans with no clear understanding of when we will be subjected to tracking—possibly for months at a time—or whether the government will first get a warrant,” wrote Catherine Crump, an ACLU staff attorney.

The price of airline iPad freedom

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Look, I get it. I understand why the twittering masses are so excited to learn that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski sent a letter last week to the FAA encouraging the agency to get its act together and allow airline passengers to play with their mobile devices during takeoff and landing. I have long wondered, along with everyone else, why we haven't seen any meaningful scientific evidence that the use of such devices interferes with the operation of an aircraft. Miles away from the airport, I still feel the pain for those parents of toddlers (and everyone sitting within earshot) who are denied the right to distract their spawn with the fabulous interactivity of the latest iPad. And I always die a little death every single time I have to stop checking for the latest Facebook status updates just so my Boeing 727 can get launched off the ground. Let Alec Baldwin play as much "Words With Friends" as he wants! We're talking about freedom here!

The surveillance state high school

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 22:10:00 +0000

Liberals and conservatives alike are up in arms about the story of Andrea Hernandez, a Texas high school sophomore who is refusing to wear a student ID card embedded with an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip. And, well, they should be; there is much cause for outrage. But most people seem to be missing the real story: Our pathetic national unwillingness to properly fund our public schools is the real root of this latest manifestation of surveillance state evil.

But first, some background. Officials in San Antonio's Northside school district are claiming that the ability to locate the exact whereabouts of students via RFID chips will boost attendance and enhance safety. A number of different schools have attempted similar schemes in recent years, provoking strong condemnation from groups across the political spectrum who argue that forcing human beings to carry electronic tracking devices constitutes a profound invasion of privacy.