13 steps to turn on Twitter’s 2-step authentication

May 22nd, 2013 by Sarah Downey

Twitter 2-factor authenticationTwitter announced today that it now supports two-factor authentication for better security. Instead of just entering your password like usual, you can optionally add a second step: your phone.

If you’re trying to log in to Twitter, you’ll have to enter your password–like usual–and then a verification code that’s sent to your phone as a text. This second step makes it much harder for someone to hack your Twitter account.

Ironically, enabling 2-factor authentication in Twitter takes more like 13 steps, but we’ve got you covered.   Read More


Xbox One will know your face, voice, and heartbeat

May 21st, 2013 by Sarah Downey

Xbox One surveillance machine privacy

Microsoft announced the next generation of its gaming console today, called the Xbox One. Among the new features are biometrics that promise to know you inside and out, which raise some serious privacy concerns. We’ll take you through them one by one.

The Xbox One has a lot of new features, including more powerful hardware that integrates with TV, a game DVR that always records your gaming so you can upload highlights later, and dual-screen capability, letting you do things like have a browser window open alongside a game screen (so you can look at a walkthrough or tweet about a game while you’re playing it).

Biometrics: voice activation and facial recognition

Xbox One facial recognitionEvery Xbox One will come with a Kinect, an accessory that tracks players’ movements to tie what you’re doing in your living room to what’s happening in-game. It’s been especially popular with dance and fitness games like Dance Central and Your Shape. The Kinect’s built-in HD camera has 60% more field of vision this time around and “can see fine details like fingers and facial features.” It can track up to 6 people at once, 4 more than the previous Kinect model.

The Kinect will also be able to detect heart rate, which will be helpful during those fitness games to check if you’re working as hard as you should be (or if your heart suddenly stops beating, will the super intelligent Kinect call an ambulence for you?)  Read More


The future of passwords: how sharing with your friends can beef up your security and reduce websites’ data breach risks

May 20th, 2013 by Rob

future of passwordsIf you have online accounts, you’re going to start seeing a lot of two new technologies that help keep your personal data secure and private online. One calls upon your friends to prove that you’re you if you need to recover a forgotten password. The other lets you create and use a password on a website without that site knowing your password: you lock up your data on their site so securely that even they can’t access it. In geek speak, they’re called 2-factor authentication via friends and host-proof hosting, respectively. Here’s what you need to know about them.  Read More


Is your online presence killing your job prospects?

May 13th, 2013 by Sarah Downey

graduates from calculatorIf you want to get a job–or keep one–listen up. Ninety-two percent of US companies screen potential employees through social media, and according to a survey we just did of over five hundred 2013 graduates, most people aren’t doing much to clean up their web presences.

Your online privacy IQ could be standing in the way of your dream job, but luckily it’s an easy thing to fix with a little effort. We built an online calculator quiz to give you a grade based on how hireable you are. Just answer 7 questions and you’ll get a grade from A+ to F, along with 5 tips to help you clean up your web presence and make yourself searchproof.   Read More


5 tips to stop Facebook from stalking your real life

May 6th, 2013 by Sarah Downey

Facebook stalkingFacebook and its advertisers want to know everything about you, online and off. The latest push is around knowing where you grew up. If you’ve signed onto Facebook lately, you’ve probably seen it.

They’ve been asking for your hometown on your profile page for several weeks now, but they’ve gotten more aggressive lately: they’re putting it at the top of people’s news feeds and saying that your profile isn’t complete without it.

Why is Facebook pestering you to know where you grew up? It’s personal information that fills in another piece of the puzzle that makes you you. Knowing your hometown makes it easier to target you, not someone with a similar name. Knowing where you grew up–and where you live now–gives Facebook and its advertisers are better sense of the stores you like, where your family and friends are located, where you’re most likely to travel, and more. Your real life and history translates to more advertising money to Facebook, a revenue source that made up 83% of Facebook’s income in 2012.

Facebook hometown pestering

Facebook’s recent push to get your hometown is showing up at the top of users’ news feeds.

Facebook recently extended its advertiser tracking capabilities into the real world through partnerships with big data brokers like Acxiom and Datalogix. This data sharing will let advertisers know if people who see their ads online–on Facebook–go buy whatever was advertised in real life. They piece together your offline and online activities through your personal information. Let’s say you buy a shirt at the mall and give the person at checkout your email (they’re always asking for it). If that’s the same email you use on your Facebook account, advertisers can link the two. They also link your online and offline lives through your phone number or zip code.

Here are 5 things you can do to thwart Facebook’s ability to link your real-world shopping with your online activities:   Read More


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