The folks behind some of the technology in Siri, the iPhone’s virtual personal assistant, are bringing their voice recognotion technology to customer service applications, including bank, cable and credit card smartphone apps. Nuance Communications (NUAN) last week announced the creation of “Nina,” a natural human language input software that is designed to understand customers’ questions about their… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Privacy
Who has your data? Researchers scrutinize apps for undisclosed ties to advertisers, analytics companies
A study looked at hundreds of apps’ privacy policies — then compared them to the data actually collected. Of the 757 apps analyzed, the researchers found nearly 60 per cent of apps collected more information than stated in their privacy policies. Source: CBC News Date: September 7th, 2018 Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/app-privacy-policy-apptrans-uoft-third-parties-ads-code-1.4791834 Discussion 1) Why does it matter that apps collect… Read more »
Online sale of pot after legalization raises privacy concerns, experts say
Buyers who have to provide personal information to purchase recreational pot online after legalization this fall should be able to rely on existing laws to protect their privacy but the issue needs to be watched closely to ensure regulations are obeyed and mistakes are avoided, experts say. The matter is important given the stigma many… Read more »
Next month a new law in Europe will make the consequences of failing to protect personal data for banks and others far more serious. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on 25 May, will be the biggest shake-up to data privacy in 20 years. A slew of recent high-profile breaches has brought the… Read more »
More than 600 apps had access to my iPhone data
While Facebook desperately tightens controls over how third parties access its users’ data – trying to mend its damaged reputation – attention is focusing on the wider issue of data harvesting and the threat it poses to our personal privacy. Data harvesting is a multibillion dollar industry and the sobering truth is that you may… Read more »
Geek Squad staff ‘paid by FBI’ to flag illegal imagery
Best Buy’s computer repair workers have been aiding the FBI for at least 10 years, new documents suggest. They indicate that several of the US company’s Geek Squad staff were paid for reporting child abuse imagery. The rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation said that the relationship “circumvents computer owners’ Fourth Amendment rights” to privacy. Source: BBC… Read more »
U.S. internet service providers get green light to sell user data — but what about Canada?
Privacy protections designed to prevent U.S. internet service providers from sharing or selling subscribers’ personal information with third parties — without permission — were dismantled by U.S. Congress on Tuesday. It means that information about the apps American internet subscribers use, the websites they visit, and the things they purchase online — among other things… Read more »
Canadian policies on cellphone searches at border aren’t easy to find
When you travel to the U.S., customs agents can search your smartphone, laptop and other electronic devices at will — a longtime policy that has attracted renewed scrutiny in light of President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration ban. Canadian customs agents can do the same, but unlike their U.S. counterparts, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) doesn’t make its… Read more »
Smile, you’re on camera, and it knows who you are
Facial recognition technology has evolved at breakneck speed, with consequences that could be benign or altogether more sinister, depending on your point of view. High-definition cameras combined with clever software capable of measuring the scores of “nodal points” on our faces – the distance between the eyes, the length and width of the nose, for… Read more »
Dropbox Didn’t Actually Delete Your ‘Deleted’ Files
Dropbox recently restored years-old “deleted” files for some customer accounts by accident, drawing attention to a potential privacy problem. Files supposedly deleted by customers from the company’s servers were instead retained for as long as eight years, according to several reports over the past few weeks. The company apologized for what it has described as… Read more »
Leading Titles
Introduction to Information Systems, 3rd Canadian Binder Ready Version Update Edition
R. Kelly Rainer, Casey G. Cegielski, Ingrid Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, Cristobal Sanchez-Rodriguez
ISBN: 978-1-119-13385-8
August 2015, © 2016
CDN $98.95; CDN $114.95