Tag Archives: Big Data

How the NSA Halted My Rise as a Vermont Drug Lord

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“I wanted to know the legal ramifications of letting the plants stay on my property or for cutting them down. If we were still living in, say, 2005, when digital culture existed to unite people and not to feed corporate dominance, big-data algorithms, and a fire hose to the NSA, I wouldn’t have felt much concern about searching any and all questions associated with my pot possession. But the Internet has become a corporate and government commodity. As long as I had a large crop of marijuana on my property, I was playing for keeps. I would be damned if I would implicate myself with searches on marijuana ownership and corresponding laws.”

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/10/31/nsa_spying_government_surveillance_and_vermont_s_drug_laws.html

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NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

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“According to a top-secret accounting dated Jan. 9, 2013, the NSA’s acquisitions directorate sends millions of records every day from Yahoo and Google internal networks to data warehouses at the agency’s headquarters at Fort Meade, Md. The NSA’s principal tool to exploit the data links is a project called MUSCULAR, operated jointly with the agency’s British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters . From undisclosed interception points, the NSA and the GCHQ are copying entire data flows across fiber-optic cables that carry information between the data centers of the Silicon Valley giants.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_print.html

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Dwolla Credit launched as competitor to PayPal’s Bill Me Later

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“Pay instantly and get paid instantly. It’s just how payments in the modern world should work.  No more loading your account, no more typing in your card information. Simple and quick checkouts are just one benefit to building a new network, working with great developers and great retailers is another.  On Dwolla’s network, there are no plastic cards, no terminals, no complicated reseller agreements, and no card data that could be left behind. Just the internet…simple.  Credit, is now a feature. Dwolla Credit, provided by our friends at Comenity Capital bank, owned by Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS), is making this all possible. I’m exceptionally proud of the work both of our teams have done.”

http://blog.dwolla.com/real-time-payments/

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Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

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“An identity theft service that sold Social Security and drivers license numbers — as well as bank account and credit card data on millions of Americans — purchased much of its data from Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus, according to a lengthy investigation by KrebsOnSecurity.  Experian declined multiple requests for an interview. But in a written statement provided to KrebsOnSecurity, Experian acknowledged the broad outlines of Martin’s story and said it had worked with the Secret Service to bring a Vietnamese national to justice in connection with the online ID theft service.”

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/experian-sold-consumer-data-to-id-theft-service/

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‘Smart shelves’ will track and influence shopper behavior

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“The Wall Street Journal reports that the smart shelves are the latest example of the ‘Internet of Things,’ which outfits everyday objects with sensors to help businesses learn more about their customers and products.  This burgeoning field could generate $1.9 trillion by 2020, predicts Gartner Inc., and already puts sensors in cars, clothes and trash bins.  The smart shelves would use sensors based on Microsoft’s Kinect for Windows technology to study shoppers’ facial structure and other characteristics to determine their age and gender. Then shoppers, if they linger long enough, might see a video advertisement targeted toward their perceived demographic.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/15/snack-maker-mondelez-readying-smart-shelves-to-track-and-influence-shopper-behavior/

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Brazil May Require Google, Facebook to Store Data Locally

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“Brazil may require Internet service companies such as Google Inc. (GOOG) and Facebook Inc. (FB) to set up local data storage centers.  Internet service companies would have to follow Brazilian privacy laws and the government may also decide to store sensitive data such as tax information within the country, Internet Policy Secretary Virgilio Almeida told reporters in Brasilia after a meeting between industry representatives and President Dilma Rousseff.  The measures designed to protect information privacy come in response to allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency used software to access communications between Rousseff and staff members.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-17/brazil-may-require-google-facebook-to-store-data-locally.html

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Richard Stallman: How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand?

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“Thanks to Edward Snowden’s disclosures, we know that the current level of general surveillance in society is incompatible with human rights. The repeated harassment and prosecution of dissidents, sources, and journalists provides confirmation. We need to reduce the level of general surveillance, but how far? Where exactly is the maximum tolerable level of surveillance, beyond which it becomes oppressive? That happens when surveillance interferes with the functioning of democracy: when whistleblowers (such as Snowden) are likely to be caught.  If whistleblowers don’t dare reveal crimes and lies, we lose the last shred of effective control over our government and institutions.”

http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/10/a-necessary-evil-what-it-takes-for-democracy-to-survive-surveillance/

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Data Broker Giants Hacked by ID Theft Service

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“An identity theft service that sells Social Security numbers, birth records, credit and background reports on millions of Americans has infiltrated computers at some of America’s largest consumer and business data aggregators, according to a seven-month investigation by KrebsOnSecurity.  All three victim companies said they are working with federal authorities and third-party forensics firms in the early stages of determining how far the breaches extend, and whether indeed any sensitive information was accessed and exfiltrated from their networks.  The intrusions raise major questions about how these compromises may have aided identity thieves.”

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/09/data-broker-giants-hacked-by-id-theft-service/

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One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Big Data

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“In 2012, the Senseable City Lab, part of MIT, conducted an experiment called Trash Track to see just what happens when someone takes out the trash. By attaching transmitters to over 3,000 pieces of rubbish they were able to track where that item went, whether they went to the correct recycling facility or not, and how far they traveled. Now move to the story in the papers last week about the Renew bins in London. It came to light that a dozen of London’s recycling bins fitted with digital screens were tracking each smartphone and device that connected to them with WiFi. It allowed advertisers to deduce whether the same phone — although not necessarily the same person — is passing by”

http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/08/one-mans-trash-is-another-mans-big-data/

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‘Data is the new oil’: Tech giants may be huge, but nothing matches big data

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“‘Data is the new oil,’ declared Clive Humby, a Sheffield mathematician who with his wife, Edwina Dunn, made £90m helping Tesco with its Clubcard system. Though he said it in 2006, the realisation that there is a lot of money to be made – and lost – through the careful or careless marshalling of ‘big data’ has only begun to dawn on many business people. About 90% of all the data in the world has been generated in the past two years (a statistic that is holding roughly true even as time passes). There are about 2.7 zettabytes of data in the digital universe, where 1ZB of data is a billion terabytes (a typical computer hard drive these days can hold about 0.5TB, or 500 gigabytes).”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/24/data-is-the-new-oil-tech-giants-may-be-huge-but-nothing-matches-big-data/

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