Computer and Library Learning

Changes to Google’s Privacy Policy Attract Attention

 

On January 24, 2012, Google announced upcoming changes to its privacy policy that will take effect on March 1, 2012, consolidating more than 60 of 70 privacy documents into one privacy policy. These changes have attracted much attention including from politicians in the United States Congress. Consequently, Pablo Chavez, Google’s Director of Public Policy, wrote a letter to members of Congress on January 30, 2012 to assure them that the changes are intended to simplify the privacy policy and encourage seamless accessibility amongst Google’s products.

Nonetheless, Google has assured users that:  the private information of Google Account users will stay private; users will still have unfettered access to doing Google searches, watching YouTube videos, getting directions from Google Maps and so on without needing to log into a Google Account; Google Account users will still have access to privacy tools through the Google Dashboard and the Ads Preferences Manager that will make data management easy to follow; Google will not sell private information to advertisers; and, Google will continue to offer data liberation for users wishing to terminate their Google accounts and transfer their information elsewhere.   

Media reaction to Google’s privacy policy changes has been mixed. Some commentators felt that people and the media were overreacting to Google’s changes while others thought that Google’s approach to providing a seamless services experience made sense. Last week, Google’s pending changes were reported on CBC’s The National by reporter Ron Charles during which some users expressed concern about their internet usage being tracked by Google:

 

 

Some technology columnists offered useful tips to Google Account users (based on Google’s privacy tools), including: using the Google Dashboard to determine what is being tracked and what can be turned off; turning off one’s search history or removing specific search queries that the user does not wish to be recorded; using private web browsing sessions to avoid tracking browsing histories; using the “off-the-record” feature on Google Chat to avoid details being recorded in one’s chat history; and, using Google’s Ad Preferences Manager to opt out of advertisements while using Gmail and Google Search. 

(See also: Concerns over Google’s Privacy Policy Changing on March 1, 2012 )

Data Privacy Day and Online Reputation

Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian stated on January 25, 2012 that people’s awareness of their online anonymity and privacy on the Internet is not realistic with what is actually happening. Technology through the use of algorithms and analytic tools has progressed to the degree where different pieces of information that one leaves online about oneself at different locations can be pulled together to develop a profile about a particular individual and highlight that individual’s online activities.

Commissioner Cavoukian has advised Ontario’s online users to be aware of the type of personal information that they are sharing and how it might be used given that people can share their information in various ways including through blogs and social networking sites. Dr. Cavoukian also urged organizations to allow consumers to opt-out of data collection and usage in an overt and straightforward manner and to offer privacy protection as the default setting.

The Commissioner is hosting a public forum on Friday January 27, 2012 entitled Beware of "Surveillance by Design:" Standing Up for Freedom and Privacy in which prominent individuals from different fields will discuss the potential effects on privacy by several proposed Canadian government bills enabling police with “lawful access” to people’s telecommunication activities. Further information on the public forum is available at the Commissioner’s website: www.realprivacy.ca .

The Commissioner’s public forum is preceding the annual International Data Privacy Day on January 28, 2012. Microsoft Corporation is using International Data Privacy Day to offer assistance to Canadians and others to protect their privacy and optimally manage their online profiles and sustain a good reputation. Microsoft surveyed five thousand people (adults and children) from Canada, Germany, Ireland, Spain, and the United States and found that these individuals need to pay closer attention to how their online activities will affect their digital reputations. The Canadian results showed that 57% of adults and 55% of children aged 8 to 17 years old did not take into account the long-term effect of their digital activities on their individual reputation. Similarly, only 37% of Canadian adults and 41% of Canadian children considered the long-term consequences that their online activities might have towards other people’s reputations.

 

 

Anyone interested in protecting online privacy, managing online profiles and maintaining good reputations should visit Microsoft’s Data Privacy Day webpage to access a variety of free resources, including Take Charge of Your Online Reputation and Safer Social Networking. One should use search engines to search one’s name on the Internet to determine presence, search blogs and social networks to establish what others have said. Use common sense in publishing information on the Internet, treat others with the same expected courtesy, and consider separating professional and personal profiles on the Internet, where applicable.

Getting More out of Reading with Social Media II - Library Thing

  Last month I started looking at social media sites geared to book lovers.  While Goodreads has the largest number of users, Library Thing is also worth a look.  While at just under 1.5 million users, Library Thing cannot claim the same mass appeal as Goodreads, it has nevertheless earned respectability by having been around longer than Goodreads, and because it seems to have a very dedicated audience among librarians, authors and hardcore readers.  Much of this is doubtless due to its accurate and readily accessible information.
 
 Like Goodreads, membership is a simple matter of signing up and developing a virtual collection by adding books.  You can add up to 200 books with a free membership and unlimited additions for $10/year or $25 for life, but so far free works for me.  Unlike Goodreads, you add cataloguing sources as well.  This means your book will have the information found on library catalogues such as publisher, year of publication, number of pages, ISBN and so on.  While Goodreads has much of this as well, it relies on its members to input this.  Library thing imports this data from trusted sources such as Libraries and Archives Canada and the United States Library of Congress (among others).

 A look at its Zeitgeist page will attest to its professional appeal.  This page will tell you that 6,794 members are also authors.  It will also tell you a lot about what its users look for in a book. While it's always interesting to know what books are most popular in a community, Library thing also lets you know who has the largest virtual collections, what books have been reviewed most, and who has written the most reviews. You can also see what the most popular tags people use the most to describe books and what authors have the most multiple volumes in (on average) in users collections.

  Library Thing is also of particular appeal to librarians and Library users because it catalogues its books using existing library standards. Library Thing imports cataloguing information from The United States Library Of Congress and Library and Archives Canada along with over 600 other libraries around the world.  One benefit of this is that when you are looking at a book record and click the link that says "Local Book Search"  you don't just get a link to an online vendor but also to local libraries in your area.  You will still have to check our catalogue, but maybe not for long.  In theory, Library Thing is designed to let you know whether or not a library has a book in its collection but this does not seem to be fully operational just yet.

  While Library Thing does rely on traditional library cataloguing, it is also able to accomodate the more recent and less universal folksonomy approach.  In a nutshell, folksonomies (a play on the word taxonomy) is a concept employed by many social cataloguing sites by which description of an item (in our case books) is done not by a single centralized authority.  So instead of all related items falling under one subject heading,(say inline skating) users assign thier own tags (roller blading, rollerblading, bladeing).  The disadvantage of this is that you have to look under each tag (and know all the tags including the misspelled ones) to be sure you've found everything you want.  The advantage is that tags allow you to list books according to what is important to you as opposed to the general public.

Focus on the User versus Google Search, Plus Your World

Some engineers at Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have developed a bookmarklet (some code operating in a web browser that facilitates temporarily added functionality) called “Don’t Be Evil” available at the website Focus on the User . The intention of this bookmarklet is to search for and display more relevant results than those appearing through Google Plus and Google Search (aka “Search, plus Your World”) for Google Plus users (who have chosen to personalize their search results after logging in), including results from Facebook and Twitter. Focus on the User will check the “people and pages” results box, the “organic” results after searching for an individual or an organization, and the search box where Google attempts to anticipate (or autocomplete) your request, and then re-do the Google search as an impersonal search based on relevance. Focus on the User makes the point that the information in the demonstration comes from Google itself and that the ranking decisions of search results are determined by Google’s algorithms.

 

 

 

The American Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has included the combination of Google Plus and Google Search to its terms of reference in investigating whether Google has violated anti-trust laws. Companies based in the European Union have filed 10 complaints which are being investigated by the European Commission on the basis of competition-busting.

Google also has its defenders who have argued that it is logical and natural for Google to focus on their own users and for Google Plus users to expect Google Plus-oriented search results. In fairness, Google Plus users can choose to opt out of “Search, plus Your World” as explained by Amit Singhal on the Official Google Blog. Nonetheless, some commentators have found that search results for “People and Pages on Google Plus” can still show up in search results for non-Google Plus users and for those Google Plus users who have logged out of their accounts.

Users wishing to download the bookmarklet to the toolbar (that works in either of the Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers) should click on the “Try a More Relevant Google” button on the Focus on the User website and follow the three step process. The creators of the bookmarklet have chosen to open source the code so that anyone may use it or improve upon it for free.

Comments are welcome from all including Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter users.

(See Also: The Marriage and Optics of Google Plus and Google Search )

Database: Credo Reference

 

Let’s take a look at the Credo Reference database that offers access to over 1 million full-text information entries in 100 reference books on current and retrospective topics. Credo Reference can be used to access biographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, quotations, bilingual dictionaries, a crossword solver, and measurement conversions. The database can be accessed in-branch or remotely through the Toronto Public Library website with a valid library card.

One has different ways with which to access content. Clicking on the link “Find Topic Pages” provides two ways to proceed: browsing categories or topic pages by subject areas, or finding topics alphabetically through an A-Z list. One can also use the keyword search box with the option to do an image search (similar to an image search with a search engine such as Ask.com), and to do a concept map search on a topic, for example global warming. (Please see below.)

 

 

The concept map shows the connections between search results in a visual, interactive and simple format. It allows users to find information fast when they are not sure what to look for, when they require topic ideas for papers or research projects, or want to increase their knowledge of a given subject. To view a short video on using the concept map, please click here. The database user has the options of zooming in/out to/from the map, rotating the map, and/or changing the link levels between concepts from simple to medium (default setting) to complex.

The user also has the options of “Find a Book”, the advanced search page (which is similar to an advanced search on a search engine such as Google), and the use of the “Gadgets” menu.

Next time you are researching a topic, why not give Credo Reference a try?

OneClick digital eAudiobooks - Always Available!

   OneClick digital eAudiobooks is a relatively new collection of downloadable audiobooks.  Based on the NetLibrary collection of both fiction and non-fiction audiobooks, it has been expanded to include more recently publish materials as well. 

The best part about OneClick digital audiobooks is that they are always available.  There are no waiting lists, just find an audiobook that you want to listen to and download it!

The 21-minute Getting Started video created by OneClick digital demonstrates and explains everthing you need to know to use this service, including setting up and account and downloading the OneClick digital Media Manager software. 

Other tutorial videos are available in the Help section of Toronto Public Library's OneClick digital audiobooks website.

Mac users please note: The OneClick digital Media Manager is currently not available for Mac computers.  Mac users will need to select Other under Operating System when setting up their account.  eAudiobooks can then be downloaded directly to your computer and manually managed using iTunes.

Some audiobooks currently available to download from OneClick digital audiobooks:

• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon 
• Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
• Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre
• Warren Buffet Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor by Janet Lowe

Related posts:

• Changes to the NetLibrary eBook and eAudiobook service
• Storytime of Adults...eAudiobooks!

The Marriage and Optics of Google Plus and Google Search

Google Plus (Google+, G+) users (who have logged into their accounts) will now have the benefit or distraction (depending on one’s viewpoint) of integrating their personal interests with the power of Google Search. Amit Singhal offered an explanation today of “Search, plus Your World” (SPYW) on the Official Google Blog whereby Google Plus users now can add people and relationships to content for a more personal search experience. One can find “personal results” that include Google+ photographs and posts, “profiles in search” whereby one can focus on people of interest and become followers, and “people and pages” that emphasize individuals’ profiles and Google+ on the basis of topic of interest. Users have the option of choosing between personalized (including Google+ content) and impersonal searching and switching between the two search types using a toggle button.

 

 

 

 

Media reports have showcased a variety of reactions: from different ways to use the new Google feature; to criticism of Twitter’s negative reaction after having backed out of a similar arrangement with Google to link up with Bing instead; to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) requesting that the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate Google for the possibility of violating antitrust provisions and favouring its own content in search results since Facebook and Twitter results have appeared further down in Google Search results (Consider Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Google Plus account placing higher in relation to a Google Search on Facebook rather than his own Facebook account); and, to the inability of Google Search to access Facebook content. Watch the following video to hear Google executive chairperson Eric Schmidt state that Facebook and Twitter content would be treated the same as Google content provided that Facebook and Twitter provided Google with adequate permission to access their content.

 

 

 

 

 

Facebook also has a relationship with Microsoft’s Bing search engine based on the premise that Bing agreed to Facebook’s conditions for protecting user privacy. Google denied that it wanted to make Facebook’s private information available publicly. Some have called for switching to Bing from Google, including Mat Honan from Gizmodo who described Google Search as the “highest quality web search product” that he had ever used for years. Unfortunately, Mr. Honan is concerned about the necessity of “opting-out” from Google’s social searching.

Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter users are invited to share their thoughts on these developments.

 

(See Also: Focus on the User versus Google Search, Plus Your World )

Facebook versus Ramnit Worm

Security management firm Seculert reported that over 45,000 Facebook login usernames and passwords have been stolen by the Ramnit worm, predominantly from members based in France (27%) and the United Kingdom (69%) with 4% affected from elsewhere. As of August 2011, Ramnit was used to target financial institutions. The Microsoft Malware Protection Center discovered Ramnit in April 2010 and described it as malware that infects Windows executable and Microsoft Office files and HTML files. Ramnit can spread to removable drives and hack sensitive information such as saved browser cookies and FTP credentials. Access by a remote attacker is possible.

Seculert discovered this new version of Ramnit by accessing the visible Ramnit Facebook C&C URL. The company also used a sinkhole to divert and analyze hostile internet traffic and concluded that approximately 800,000 computers were infected with Ramnit from September to December 2011. Computers can become infected by visiting malicious websites in a manner referred to as drive-by downloads and clicking on questionable links within email messages.

 

 

Seculert provided Facebook with all of the stolen information that it found on the Ramnit servers. Facebook is informing the affected users even though much of the information was out-of-date as well as asking them to reset their passwords to reinforce the security of their accounts. Seculert theorized that the hackers would hijack the compromised Facebook accounts to spread malicious links to their friends presumably sent by themselves rather than by strangers. Online users often use the same password over and over for various services which makes different accounts vulnerable to attack from online attackers.

Some IT writers expressed concern that compromised social networking and cloud computing-based accounts also place internal corporate network accounts security in jeopardy through their links with the outside world using official and unofficial channels of communication.

Shift in Windows Desktop Operating System Market Share

Web analytics company Net Applications released their latest statistics on desktop computer operating systems usage that showed Windows XP with the largest share of the market, though only with a plurality of 46.52% in December 2011, down from 57.51% in February 2011. By contrast, the newer Windows 7 operating system increased market share to 36.99% in December 2011 from 24.09%, while Windows Vista declined from 11.49% to 8.44%. Mac OS X 10.7 increased from 0% to 2.02% while Mac OS X 10.6 declined from 3.55% to 3.05%. Other operating systems as a group declined from 3.36% to 2.98%.

 

 

The context for the major shift between Windows XP and Windows 7 can be explained by several factors: the age of Windows XP (10 years and counting); Microsoft encouraging Windows users to give up on XP for a more up-to-date operating system before Microsoft ends its support of Windows XP in April 2014; and, XP’s inability to run with web browser Microsoft Internet Explorer 9. Obviously, computer users have been paying attention to what Microsoft has been saying about XP.

Another development to consider will be the widespread release of Windows 8 later this year following pending beta testing. Windows 8 will include the ribbon user interface that has become standard in Microsoft Office products. Windows 8 is likely to be partnered up with Internet Explorer 10, be available in bootable format on a transferable USB flash drive, and able to run on desktops, laptops, and tablets.

(See also: Windows 7 Gaining Operating System Market Share )