Tag Archives: Privacy

Current Affairs, Love & Relationships, Pleasures, Politics, Science & Health, Web & Technology

The High Cost of Living Your Life Online | WIRED

Constantly posting content on social media can erode your privacy—and sense of self.

By Thor Benson Security, Oct 3, 2022 7:00 AM

Photograph: Luka Milanovic/Getty Images

To be online is to be constantly exposed. While it may seem normal, it’s a level of exposure we’ve never dealt with before as human beings. We’re posting on Twitter, and people we’ve never met are responding with their thoughts and criticisms. People are looking at your latest Instagram selfie. They’re literally swiping on your face. Messages are piling up. It can sometimes feel like the whole world has its eyes on you.

Being observed by so many people appears to have significant psychological effects. There are, of course, good things about this ability to connect with others. It was crucial during the height of the pandemic when we couldn’t be close to our loved ones, for example. However, experts say there are also numerous downsides, and these may be more complex and persistent than we realize.

Studies have found that high levels of social media use are connected with an increased risk of symptoms of anxiety and depression. There appears to be substantial evidence connecting people’s mental health and their online habits. Furthermore, many psychologists believe people may be dealing with psychological effects that are pervasive but not always obvious.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/privacy-psychology-social-media/

Science & Health, Times They Are A-Changing, Web & Technology

If you care about your privacy, you need to change these browser settings right now – CNET

Google Chrome is the worst privacy offender, but all browsers can use settings tweaks. Make these adjustments ASAP in Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox and Brave.

By Rae Hodge Sept. 5, 2021 4:30 p.m. PT

James Martin/CNET
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Privacy is now a priority among browser-makers, but they may not go as far as you want in fighting pervasive ad industry trackers on the web.

Here’s a look at how you can crank up your privacy settings to outsmart that online tracking. Problems like Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal have elevated privacy protection on Silicon Valley’s priority list by showing how companies compile reams of data as you traverse the internet.

Their goal? To build a richly detailed user profile so that you can become the target of more accurate, clickable and thus profitable advertisements.

Source: If you care about your privacy, you need to change these browser settings right now – CNET

Current Affairs, Food & Drink, Games, Science & Health, Times They Are A-Changing

Analysis | We’ve been cooped up with our families for almost a year. This is the result.

Toys are neatly lined up in the Elkridge, Md., backyard of Amy Phillips in April 2020. Phillips, a mental health counselor, and her husband, a government contractor, worked from home with their four kids. They had to let their nanny go before the lockdown and it's been chaos ever since. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)
Toys are neatly lined up in the Elkridge, Md., backyard of Amy Phillips in April 2020. Phillips, a mental health counselor, and her husband, a government contractor, worked from home with their four kids. They had to let their nanny go before the lockdown and it’s been chaos ever since. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

When the pandemic forced us into our homes to spend extended periods in contact only with a small circle of family members, it was one of the fastest, largest shifts of human behavior in memory. We’re just starting to understand the fallout.

  • About 1 in 8 were home alone.
  • Almost 2 in 5 were home with kids.
  • Almost half were in a household with another adult who was also suddenly sent home.
  • More than two-thirds were home with another adult, such as a stay-at-home spouse or retiree.

Source: Analysis | We’ve been cooped up with our families for almost a year. This is the result.

Books & Reading, Libraries, Web & Technology

Net neutrality: America’s libraries stand for freedom and fairness | TheHill

OPINION | We must work to ensure the strongest possible protections for equitable access to online information, applications and services for all.

Author is Julie Todaro is president of the American Library Association, the oldest and largest library association in the world.

Source: Net neutrality: America’s libraries stand for freedom and fairness | TheHill

Books & Reading, Libraries

Mayor’s Office proposes letting police check out library patron information – Omaha.com: OMAHA METRO

“If law enforcement officers want patron information from an Omaha library, they have to get a subpoena or search warrant.”

via Mayor’s Office proposes letting police check out library patron information – Omaha.com: OMAHA METRO.

DrWeb adds.. yes, that’s how it works. Get a subpoena or search warrant, from a court or judge. Police don’t get private personal information without it.


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