Nerd Gear: Freedom Box

I read an interesting story today from The New York Times about Eben Moglen, a real nerd, he was writing code for pay at age 14, but he is also a hard core legal expert.

Moglen wants to improve access to the internet in ways to protect personal privacy.


Moglen recently started http://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/, in their mission in their own words,

We're building software for smart devices whose engineered purpose is to work together to facilitate free communication among people, safely and securely, beyond the ambition of the strongest power to penetrate. They can make freedom of thought and information a permanent, ineradicable feature of the net that holds our souls.

Not only is Moglen a Computer Nerd, and a lawyer, he is not your average lawyer, any more than he is your average nerd.

He clerked for Thurgood Marshall, a Supreme Court Justice, if your not familiar with law it is hard to explain exactly what that means in practical terms, other than the obvious that he worked for the a Supreme Court Justice.

But it is a close relationship, and a clerk can have a lot of indirect influence on cases.

Probably the best way to think of a clerk, is it is like a post doc position, your considered to know your field, but you have no experience so you do a lot of menial or grunt work, like being an apprentice, or journeyman, and you learn a lot from the person you clerk for, and generally they become a true mentor.

So unlike a lot people interested in computer security, or data privacy, he knows a lot about the legal system.

Not just the actual laws, and what type of legal arguments might work, but what kind of computer hardware or software solutions would be stronger to defend in court.

He should also, from his time clerking for a Supreme Court Justice, know a lot about the politics and related issues that would affect data privacy.

 I suggest reading the New York Times story, and if your a computer nerd, the Freedom Box Foundation link.

You may also be interested in Post SOPA, EU vs USA Internet Freedom & Rights.

To see more of my blog posts on related topics click Data Bill of Rights, that link can also be found in the Label Cloud at left side of blog, though it will be hard to find currently, since I don't have a lot of posts on that specific topic yet.

PSA: Android Apps Can Upload Your Photos Without Consent!

From New York Times Bit Blog:

"It turns out that Google, maker of the Android mobile operating system, takes it one step further. Android apps do not need permission to get a user’s photos, and as long as an app has the right to go to the Internet, it can copy those photos to a remote server without any notice, according to developers and mobile security experts."

 I really recommend reading the full story at the link above, and also the story at Ars, and always read the comments on Ars!

I am really starting to think the Android and iOS fans that argue about which is better are both completely wrong, the real question is if either is less bad.

If you hadn't hear there are problems with Pictures on iOS devices as well.

I am becoming a real proponent of a Data Bill of Rights!

PSA: Facebook, Your Data, the Government, & More

Forbes, just released an online story about Facebook's Chief Security Officer, I recommend everyone that uses social media to read the story, it reveals a lot of information about how Facebook handles Data Privacy and related topics like cyber crime.

[If this leaves you looking for more you can read Computerworld's "Facebook settles FTC privacy complaints" and PC World's "Facebook Commits to Changes Following Critical Irish Audit" details of the Irish audit: Report of Data Protection Audit of Facebook Ireland.  But this Blog post is about the Forbes article.]

You will probably find some things that surprise you, like how many people working at Facebook just deal with law enforcement requests for information.

Or the Security Bug Bounty, where you can make money as an  Ethical or White Hat Hacker.

One thing I learned that maybe I heard, but if so it didn't stay in my memory, was that Facebook partnered with Sophos to take down some Russian cyber criminals.

I follow the Sophos Naked Security Blog, one of the best IT Security blogs out there.

I usually run into a few people every month in the Starcraft 2 community, that are surprised that I am not on Facebook at all, usually they are not aware of these issues.

When I read the Forbes article, I felt that they provided a very good overview of Data Privacy as it pertains to Facebook.

Thought there was a slight, but clear bias for Facebook in the Forbes article (ie they are painted as "good guys" and no mention is made of the Irish Audit, I think Forbes has done a much better job of explaining the Data Privacy risks of Facebook,  than I have ever done.

So I encourage everyone to read it, and please note:  I am NOT saying you should not use Facebook, I am saying that you should do so with a clear idea of what that means for anything and everything you put on Facebook.

Forewarned is Forearmed 

You may also find Nerd News: Post SOPA, EU vs USA Internet Freedom & Rights worth reading.

PSA: Twitter "Find Friends" on cell phones, copies email addresses and phone numbers to their servers!

Full story here at LA Times, also picked up by Naked Security Blog here, and though those stories are focusing on the iPhone, the LA Times article states "mobile users" not just iPhones.

The Register's article, specifically mentions "iOS and Android clients."


The LA Times story originally said that Twitter was storing names from address book as well as email and phone numbers, which is what Twitter told them originally, but they have an update/correction at the end of their story, stating that Twitter now says that it is just email and phone numbers.


Makes me feel a bit more strongly that we should have a Digital Bill of Rights, here in the USA.

Nerd News: Post SOPA, EU vs USA Internet Freedom & Rights?

A Computer/Net Security blog I follow, Naked Security, has a very good article out, "Who has better privacy laws: USA or European Union?"

This articel from Naked Security seems to have been motivated in part by PCWorld's article "Protect Our Data! A Digital Consumer Bill of Rights"

Both of those article are worth reading, I feel at worst I have an average understanding of these issues, I am a full time Esports Blogger after all, and I put a lot of effort into staying informed on this & related topics.

I still learned some things I was not fully aware of, specifically, the Naked Security article clearly states that "In the US, the Data Protection picture is more fragmented."

Which is something I knew, but had never really thought of before, the United States of America are called "United States" in part because each state actually can have completely different laws in many areas of law.

That is part of the complexity of the issue in the USA, but at the Federal level there is also more than one department involved, and each department has different concerns, not to mention the different departments are influenced by different PAC's, lobbyists, and Politicians.

I don't know enough currently to make any strong statements, except that I think everyone that works or plays on the internet should strive to know and understand as much as they can on these topics.