EFFector Vol. 22, No. 07 March 13, 2009 editor@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : In our 502nd issue: * GOOGLE LAUNCHED A BEHAVORIAL TARGETING AD PROGRAM this week, which it calls "interest-based advertising." EFF is concerned about behavioral targeting, because it means that information about how you use the web is collected, stored and associated with a cookie on your browser, which can track you across different websites and online services. The program'soriginal opt-out option -- using cookies to opt-out of tracking cookies -- was not adequate, because the very users who care most about privacy are the ones most likely to delete cookies, thus removing them from the opt-out protection. We worked with Google to seek a new solution, and the result is the Advertising Cookie Opt-Out Plug-in, which allows users to keep their opt-out status for a particular browser even when they clear all cookies. If you are a user who shares our concerns about privacy, we encourage you to opt-out of tracking by downloading the plug-in and keep regularly deleting your cookies. For the full post: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/google-begins-behavioral-targeting-ad-program * GOOGLE HAS DECIDED TO MATCH LOOPT'S POLICY for dealing with law enforcement demands in regards to Latitude, Google's new cell phone-based friend-finding service. The gist of the Latitude and Loopt policies? "Come back with a warrant." Like Loopt, Google's Latitude doesn't (currently) keep a historic log of its users' locations; both companies overwrite the old data each time you report a new location. Google has confirmed that its policy will be to require a wiretap order -- sometimes called a "super-warrant" since it's even harder to get than a regular search warrant -- before tracking a Latitude user's location for law enforcement. Of course, it remains to be seen how far Google and Loopt will go if faced with a court order that isn't the required super-warrant. But the public commitment alone is an important step forward, and to the extent either Google or Loopt is faced with a law enforcement demand that they don't think is up to snuff legally, the lawyers at EFF stand ready and waiting to help. For the full post: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/exclusive-google-takes-stand-location-privacy-alon : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : EFF Updates * Seer Systems Threatens EFF with Defamation Lawsuit Seer Systems, Inc. and Stanley Jungleib have issued a written litigation threat to EFF over statements made as part of EFF's Patent Busting Project. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/seer-systems-threatens-eff-defamation-lawsuit * Additional Details about Choruss on Campuses EDUCAUSE, the nonprofit for information technology in higher education, posted a one hour conversation with Jim Griffin, the head of Choruss (and member of EFF's advisory board). http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/additional-details-choruss-collective-licensing-ca * Why Irish ISPs Should Stand with Their Customers The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) recently wrote to all Irish ISPs requiring that the ISPs instigate a "three strikes" policy with their customers within 7 days. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/irish-blackout : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : miniLinks ~ Whitehouse.gov Continues YouTube Use The White House appears to have ended its "experiment" with hosting its own videos and has returned to using YouTube. Will user info be harvested for Google's targeted advertising? http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2009/03/white-house-ends-experiment-goes-back.html ~ Court Tosses Gibson's Guitar Hero Suit Gibson Guitar's patent infringement suit against the Guitar Hero game was thrown out of court as "frivolous." http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10187151-1.html ~ Senator's Donor Data Leaked Wikileaks revealed that information on donors to MN Senator Norm Coleman's campaign, including credit card numbers, was accidently leaked over the Internet. http://government.zdnet.com/?p=4456 For more miniLinks: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/minilinks-2009-03-12 For global miniLinks: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/global-minilinks-2009-03-05 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : Announcements * You're Invited to a "Geek Reading" with Authors Cory Doctorow, Rudy Rucker, Annalee Newitz, and Charlie Anders at 111 Minna Gallery Join EFF on Monday, March 23rd, for a fundraising event featuring award-winning writer Cory Doctorow. Cory will be reading from his novel, "Little Brother," a story of high-tech teenage rebellion set in the familiar world of San Francisco. As he currently calls the UK home, this is a rare opportunity to to hear Cory read from his work in person. He will be joined by fellow writers Rudy Rucker, Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders reading from their latest works. WHEN: Monday, March 23rd, at 7:30 p.m. WHO: Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing (boingboing.net), and a contributor to Wired, Popular Science, Make, the New York Times, and many other newspapers, magazines and websites. Cory is an EFF fellow and the former Director of European Affairs at EFF. He has won the Locusand Sunburst Awards and been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and British Science Fiction Awards. His latest novel, New York Times Bestseller "Little Brother," was published in May 2008, and his latest short story collection is "Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present." Rudy Rucker is a popular science fiction and nonfiction writer. Born in Kentucky in 1946, Rudy studied mathematics, earning a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in the theory of infinite sets. After working 15 years as a mathematics professor on the East Coast, Rudy moved to Silicon Valley in 1986 to become a computer science professor at San Jose State University, also working as a software engineer at Autodesk, Inc. After some 20 years at SJSU, Rudy retired from teaching. Rudy has published 29 books, including five non-fiction popular science books on such topics as relativity, infinity, the fourth dimension, and information. "The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul"--his most recent nonfiction book--is about the meaning of computation. Annalee Newitz is a journalist who covers the cultural impact of science and technology, covering such topics as open source software and hacker subcultures. Annalee writes for many periodicals, including Popular Science and Wired, and since 1999 has had a syndicated weekly column called Techsploitation. From 2004-2005, Annalee was a policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She is the editor of io9, a Gawker-owned science fiction blog. Charlie Jane Anders blogs about science fiction at io9.com. She organizes the Writers With Drinks reading series and is starting a weekly podcast called "I Am So Smart." Her writing has appeared most recently in "The McSweeney's Joke Book Of Book Jokes," Mother Jones magazine, and the upcoming "Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2009 Edition." Charlie wrote a novel called "Choir Boy" and co-edited an anthology called "She's Such a Geek." Find her on Twitter as "charliejane." WHERE: 111 Minna Gallery 111 Minna St. @ 2nd San Francisco, CA 94105 Admission is $25. No one turned away for lack of funds. Must be 21 or older to attend. RSVP to: events@eff.org 111 Minna Gallery is accessible via BART. Get off at the Montgomery station and use the exit marked 2nd and Market. Walk south on 2nd Street until you reach 111 Minna Gallery on the right. It's also walking distance from the Caltrain station. : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : Administrivia EFFector is published by: The Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org/about Editor: Sara Bassett, Membership Services Assistant sara@eff.org Membership & donation queries: membership@eff.org To support EFF: secure.eff.org/donate General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries: information@eff.org Back issues of EFFector are available at: http://www.eff.org/effector/
