Yesterday on The Conversation, Timothy Smith from the Florey Neurosciences Institute argued that in order to improve genetics research, we need free and open access to genetic information. But while the…
Should legislation be used to tame the search engine's appetite?
COG LOG LAB
We all know Google has a history of privacy-related misdemeanors but a report in the Wall Street Journal last week
suggests the search giant hasn’t learn from its mistakes.
The report, about the findings…
Ever had the sense someone's watching over your shoulder?
Nick Chill Photography
What if you used your smartphone, knowing you might be sharing certain information, but had no idea what exactly was being shared? Or why you might be sharing it?
If you knew someone could be recording…
The collection and potential uses of your data is back in the news again.
Saad Irfan
What can only be described as “growing consternation” has resulted from revelations by a developer, Trevor Eckhart, that a large number of mobile phones are secretly monitoring users’ actions on the phone…
Concerns that the national health survey is a manifestation of Big Brother are misplaced.
Cristiano Betta
The Australian Health Survey (AHS) has recently been in the news, with people expressing concern that a national health census is an egregious infringement of their right to privacy and a manifestation…
Unthink is positioning itself as a force of "emancipation".
Unthink.com
On October 25, Unthink invited public beta users to put aside their YASNS (Yet Another Social Network Site) fatigue. Since then, it claims to have attracted more than 100,000 registered users.
The site…
Australian law needs to catch up with technology which means we can be watched at any time.
Flickr/Esther Gibbons
Watching other people is human. It’s why TV shows like Big Brother, and paparazzi magazines flourish. But while some people choose to expose private moments, others do not. And Australian law doesn’t always…
Teens have a right to confidential and private health care.
Ed Yourdon
If your teenage daughter was sexually active and wanted to go on the pill, you’d want to know, right? Well, think back to when you were her age – would you have told your parents?
These questions were…
Has TeaMp0isoN missed the point with its latest hacking stunt?
Kerim Okten/AAP
By Philip Branch, Swinburne University of Technology
The hacking of BlackBerry’s official blog by the mysterious collective TeaMp0isoN raises serious questions.
This black-hat hacking group, founded in 2009, has so far claimed responsibility for more than…
Why isn't more being done to keep our sensitive information from prying eyes?
sinus iridium
Participation in Australian society involves providing information about yourself to both public and private sector organisations.
Such information may be sensitive, which raises important questions…
Would a right to privacy have helped Lara Bingle? AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy
Who would have predicted there would be serious talk of a statutory privacy tort in Australia, giving private individuals who feel their privacy as been breached the right to sue? But then again, who would…
Increased intelligence data adds more noise, but not always more useful information.
ssoosay
Commentary from some sections of the IT community on the recent killings in Norway reminds us national security is still haunted by two visions:
1) With enough data it will be possible to comprehensively…
Lara Bingle and Michael Clarke faced enormous media interest over their relationship.
AAP
Reaction to the widening News of the World scandal has again highlighted the lack of protection against invasion of privacy by the media in Australia.
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating renewed his attack…
If you're concerned about the data on your phone, there are a few things you can do.
Daniel Barry/EPA
The Apple iPhone feature of logging and storing users' location information has attracted worldwide attention.
But discussions about location privacy aside, a more basic question needs to be asked: how…
Specialists can go on a genetic fishing expedition tracking down potential relatives.
Doctors are supposed to keep patient information confidential unless told otherwise, right? Well, not any longer.
If you’re diagnosed with a genetic disorder, medical specialists are now allowed to contact…
Knowing me, knowing you: there is nothing we can't view.
tonechootero/Flickr
Advanced surveillance and social media might seem like strange bedfellows. Until you look a bit closer, that is.
Technologies developed for surveillance applications are typically designed with robustness…
Advanced surveillance is about seeing what we all see – but better.
robynejay/Flickr
Commercial ports, railway stations and other crucial infrastructure are at constant risk from security incidents that can halt operations and, more worryingly, put you and I in harm’s way.
This is a reality…
Your cooperation is welcome … but not really necessary.
fictures/Flickr
In the surveillance world there are certain grand challenges – holy grails that researchers and those who use surveillance pursue doggedly, spurned on by the technical issues such challenges pose.
Paramount…
Are privacy concerns irrational in the era of Facebook and Twitter?
qubitsu
It’s hard to discuss public surveillance without immediately being asked about privacy issues. As technologists working on computer-based surveillance, it’s tempting to say this is outside our area of…
Apple might not use location information for its own benefit, so why collect it?
AAP
Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, hit back at reports yesterday that the company’s iPhones track the movements of its 100 million users.
The charge was that Apple was storing a database of this information, to which…
Where we are says a lot about who we are.
tulja/Flickr
PRIVACY – Your location is arguably more personal than your genetic profile; even identical twins can’t be in the same place at the same time. In terms of value, it’s on a par with your medical records…
Do you trust Facebook as much as you would your best friend?
Karen Bleier/AFP
Unless you’ve been chained to a fax machine for the past seven years, you’ll have noticed that Facebook is immensely popular.
Users numbered 641 million by February of this year.
Making and maintaining…
