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‘s Privacy Policy: Strike One

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Not nine days after Google releases their new-and-improved privacy policy, we have some first hand results of its intrusiveness.   Jonathan Mayer, a graduate student from Stanford University, discloses some rather disappointing findings.  In his comprehensive article (found here) he identifies four ad-based companies that place trackable cookies in Safari’s browser, and code in two of the four show an intentional circumnavigation of Safari’s privacy feature.  I’ll give you a hint: one starts with a G and ends in oogle.  Now almost every browser has some type of privacy feature in place: “Every popular web browser, save Opera Mini and … Read more

Use Google? YouTube? Have a Gmail account? Worried? Maybe You Should Be: Part 3

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It’s here.  Google’s new simplified privacy policy popped up today when I opened my Reader account, (if you don’t follow, here’s Part 1 and Part 2) and after 30 minutes or so I came to a single profound, concrete conclusion: it’s long. Now I have to give Google credit, it’s the most user friendly privacy document I’ve seen to date; complete with unsophisticated illustrations that firmly reinforce it’s benign nature. A caricature of how Google uses the information it gathers to improve the user experience. Simplicity aside, what does this mean for the user?  Well, as previously stated it’s a matter of perspective.  Interestingly … Read more

Like Bacon? And Milkshakes? And Getting Fat? Jack In The Box Has You Covered..

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Thanks to YouTube, I’ve seen some pretty corpulent culinary concoctions emerge from channels like Epic Meal Time.  It looks like Jack In The Box (symbol: JACK) is testing the waters of the fat laden phenomenon that’s sweeping the internet; trying to snare some of the free viral publicity for the fast food chain.  And with tens of millions of views per episode, who can blame them.  According to Business Insider, the Bacon Milkshake will be offered for a limited time and customers will have to whisper their order.  Vegetarians shouldn’t feel left out though, since the bacon flavoring is derived … Read more

Use Google? YouTube? Have a Gmail account? Worried? Maybe You Should Be: Part 2

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OK, the previous post on this topic generated a LOT of emails.  With excessive use of the caps lock.  All the shouting aside, the responses formed two very distinct camps: those who welcomed the changes with open arms, and those angered to the point that their accounts will be deactivated within the next month.  This apartheid is primarily due to difference in perspective rather than an actual misrepresentation of facts.  Let’s break down the two mindsets so we can understand both sides of the equation. Now it is clear that purely from a functionality standpoint (ignore the politics for just a moment), the … Read more

Use Google? YouTube? Have a Gmail account? Worried? Maybe You Should Be: Part 1

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I admit, I constantly use all three in almost every aspect of my life.  But it looks like my Hotmail account, Yahoo Finance, and Vimeo are about to see a lot more of my traffic, and here’s why.  I received an email from Google just earlier today about their ‘new privacy policy’.  It seemed harmless enough, even like a step in the right direction of reducing these longwinded legal documents into something the average user can understand: We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to … Read more