Privacy

How to block unknown callers on Skype

You may have noticed that practically anyone can call your Skype. While this might be great when the only people who have your number are people you want to talk to, but that isn't always the case.

Today's marketing is pretty aggressive. Because of this, you may receive e-mail, texts, and calls from people trying to sell you something or run a scam. Unfortunately, this spam has leaked into Skype as well. Here are a few quick steps to prevent the people you don't know from contacting you on Skype.

Step 1: Click on the Tools menu … Read more

How to back up, then delete your Google account

It's official, Google's new unified privacy policy is now in place, allowing all of your data to be shared across the various Google services. This is definitely going to make some users uneasy. If you're one of those users, and have been thinking about ditching Google, you will want to make sure you back up your data first, then delete your account. Here's how to carry out both of these tasks.

To begin, you will need to visit Google.com/settings.

You will want to back up your account data before you delete the account. To … Read more

Five ways Google's unified privacy policy affects you

Today, Google's unified privacy policy goes live, allowing the search giant to combine and manipulate data from all its 60 free services, something it could not do under its previous policies.

Coverage of the policy change has been abundant during the last few weeks leading up to it, though Google has made no secret of its intentions--pop-ups alerting users to the transition can be seen on the home pages of all its services.

But despite the warnings, you might still be wondering how, exactly, the change will affect you. Is it really as scary as media are warning? Here'… Read more

Chrome to support Do Not Track privacy feature

Google has agreed to build support for Do Not Track into Chrome so its Web browser can tell Web sites when people don't want advertisers scrutinizing their behavior.

The Do Not Track technology modifies communications between browsers and servers so people can signal that they don't want their browsing behavior to become the basis for ad targeting.

Mozilla developed Do Not Track and built it into its Firefox Web browser. Microsoft followed suit not long after with Internet Explorer, Apple has enabled it as an option for developers in Safari 5.1, and Opera is building it into the forthcoming Opera 12. … Read more

How to opt-out of your Klout profile

Klout is an online service that measures your influence by analyzing your interactions on social networks. If you have a public Twitter account, your Klout profile is automatically created, regardless of whether you signed up for the service or not.

Other Internet services, like search engines, can access your Twitter feed as well, so Klout isn't unique when it comes to gathering your Twitter data. Klout, however, allows you to opt-out of their service. Here's how:

Step 1: To begin the opt-out process, go to http://klout.com/corp/optout and click on the Twitter or Facebook link … Read more

Anonymous targets Oakland city officials

Oakland city officials, meet Anonymous.

In response to what it claims is a series of community-busting moves by the California city's leaders and police, such as Occupy Oakland-related arrests and crackdowns, budget cutting and school, park, and library closings unaccompanied by City Hall salary cuts, the hacktivist group today released a document containing personal data on a number of officials.

"Anonymous has been watching," the group wrote on Facebook. "Since the inception of Occupy Oakland, we have been actively monitoring your behavior and exposing the identities and sensitive information of Officers of the Oakland Police Department; … Read more

Google's response on new privacy policy ticks off congresswoman

Google apparently isn't making any friends in Congress after a hearing yesterday on the company's new privacy policy.

Called before a Congressional committee to address questions over the policy, Google officials were said to be less than "forthcoming" with their answers, according to Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), who heads the House subcommittee leading the investigation.

"At the end of the day, I don't think their answers to us were very forthcoming necessarily in what this really means for the safety of our families and our children," Bono Mack told reporters, according to The Hill.… Read more

Supremes to Congress: Bring privacy law into 21st century

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See bios of Berin Szoka and Charlie Kennedy below.

Last week's unanimous decision of the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Jones (PDF) marks a major victory for constitutional rights.

While the justices split in their rationale, they agreed that protecting Americans' privacy in the digital age will require the Court to do a great deal more to untangle its confusing Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. That will likely take several more decisions -- and many years. Meanwhile, Congress should heed Justice Samuel Alito's call for legislation limiting government's ability to track … Read more

Five smart ways to keep your browsing private

For many of us, the only time we think about who's tracking our online habits is when a site seems to know more about us than we think it could.

There's a lot more going on under the surface, though, and anyone from marketers to employers to private investigators could have access to your browsing sessions if you don't take active countermeasures. Here are five tools that work quite well:

Removing cookies and more. CCleaner is a great, free tool that you can use to wipe your computer of your browsing history, cookies, and other detritus. It … Read more