In a recent blog post I advised people to go to the website www.equifaxsecurity2017.com and input their name and part of their Social Security number to find out if their personal information was compromised. The current consensus is that the site itself is dysfunctional, returning conflicting reports to the same people at different times. In other words, Equifax itself is currently incapable of telling you if you've been put at risk.
So what can you do? First place a fraud alert... Read Post
The private information of as many as 143 million Americans (as well some Canadians and UK citizens) has been exposed in a cybertack on Equifax, a company that, ironically, sells protection against identity theft. To find out if you've been affected, go to https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com, click on "potential impact" at the bottom of the page and input your last name and Social Security number.
If the resulting message says your personal information may have been compromised,... Read Post
Last week I posted about the filter bubble--the selective bias programmed into search engines via your search histories and the cookies web sites leave on your computer. This week I'm posting about how to break out of the filter bubble, so that the results of your web searches don't merely reflect your previous searches but have a better chance of bringing you new information.
Step 1: Delete the cookies in your web browser. A cookie is a small file stored in your computer's web... Read Post
...which sites you visit? If you think you do, you're right only up to a point. Sure, you decide which links to click on, but who decides which links appear on your screen when you keyword search in the first place? If you're searching with Google, Bing, or Yahoo, they use your previous searches, the websites you've visited and your IP address to tailor your search results. And if you're logged in to your gmail account while using Google, your Microsoft account while using Bing, or your... Read Post
Tomorrow night Sprout is hosting a digital privacy & security workshop that starts at 6 pm. In case you don't know about Sprout, it's a local collaborative devoted to scientific inquiry, and creating prototypes of tools to support scientific investigation.
If you don't know much about computers, don't worry: this workshop is meant to be accessible. Come with a laptop (or not) and speak up about what you would like to learn.
Sprout is at 339 Summer St. You can get all the... Read Post
If you've been using AdBlock Plus as an adblocker I've got bad news: it now allows ads. But according to the people at Eyeo GmbH, the company that developed AdBlock Plus, users shouldn't worry: these ads are "acceptable." Supposedly AdBlock Plus will only ads that are smaller and less intrusive than the ads that companies would prefer to place on websites. The change is controversial, to say the least.
I suggest switching to uBlock, a well-reviewed adblocker that doesn't allow ads.... Read Post
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