Online Privacy Doesn’t Exist

Facebook has gotten a lot of attention recently for their changes to the default security settings for user’s information, as well as comments made by founder Mark Zuckerberg. The most notable comment he’s made is that “the default is sharing, not privacy.” It does help to keep in mind that he runs a company that’s lifeblood is based on people sharing every aspect of their personal lives. In fact, much of Facebook’s value can be directly measured by how much personal information it’s users are comfortable sharing with each other and the world.

One of the problems that stems from sharing all of your personal information with the world is that it becomes very easy for identity theft scams to target you. Google has a long memory, and many password reset mechanisims ask for your email address, your birthday, your parent’s names, pet’s names, or favorite movie titles. This is exactly the sort of information people are scrambling to share on social networking sites. In many cases, it’s present on user’s main profile pages, which is often indexed by Google and other search engines unless you opt-out. It’s also, by default, available to anyone who creates an account, which are free and easy to get. It’s probably time to tighten down your security settings.

The other problem is the willingness of users to broadcast every detail of their lives online. Where they were last night, who they were hanging out with, what they think of their bosses, their friends, and their families are all online for anyone to see. This violates one of the cardinal rules of the Internet: everything you put online will be seen by everyone, especially people who you think shouldn’t. If you wouldn’t email the picture or the post directly to every member of your family, each of your bosses, your professors and the police, don’t post it to YouTube, Facebook or your personal blog. This is 2010 – they are all online, and they will eventually see it.

I’m not saying you should be paranoid and abandon social networking sites – just use reason when posting. A lot of employers now check Facebook for information on new hires. What will they see if they look for you?

Where The Money Comes From

With the increased media attention to illegal file sharing and the court cases that the Recording Industry has been filing against people who download music recordings illegally, it has been noticed that Obama has appointed several prominent RIAA lawyers to positions within the Justice Department. My question – why is anyone surprised? Big politics requires big money – those television ads that ran for 14+ months of the last campaign didn’t pay for themselves, you know. If you are a big campaign donor, you get correspondingly large political pull. And there’s a lot of money coming in to the Democrats from the media industry.

Even if Obama didn’t accept any special interest money, the rest of his party has, and those special interests shape the party, not the people. Those special interests decide that the party is going to be for or against gun control, corporate taxes, energy policy and national security, for starters. The will of the ‘people’ comes out in things like gay marriage and abortion – things that are emotionally sensitive, and will distract the people from what’s going on. Let’s say this again to make sure everyone is clear: the people have little say over the platform the party runs on. The party establishes what it’s platform will be, and then the people are expected to vote along party lines. Too bad if you’re a democrat who thinks gun control is a bad idea, or if you’re a republican who is in support of gay marriage.

Time to get back off my soapbox.

Partisan Politics

Not that I mind so much, due to the subject matter, but Obama has started playing partisan politics in the most dangerous arena ever. College basketball.

Credit Markets and the Auto Industry

“…the Bush administration is abandoning the centerpiece of its massive $700 billion economic rescue plan and exploring new ways to shore up not only banks but credit-card, auto-loan and other huge nonbank businesses.“

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1290985.html

So, the Fed gets a loan from the taxpayers for $700 billion to bail out the banks and the sub-prime housing debacle, and now they want to use it for something else – which isn’t what the taxpayers were promised. Now that the election is over, it doesn’t matter – people aren’t going to notice, as they are so burned out by the 18 months of ElectionTV and are more worried about losing their jobs than anything else. To make things worse, the Democrats are pushing to have the US Government take a significant stake in the the Big Three car makers in the US, which is about the stupidest idea I’ve heard this month. The automakers have spent the last 5 years with their head in the sand, building massive, crummy cars that people don’t want to buy, and now they need to be bailed out.

The only solution I’ve heard that makes any sense for the taxpayers in regards to the auto industry is to have the government purchase a new fleet of hybrid or low emission vehicles over the next 2-4 years, and pay a significant portion of the tender up front. This will get the auto makers up to speed with the tech the consumers want (and Japan is providing, happily) and the government will actually get something out of the deal, rather than just giving money away for stock that is essentially worthless – until the US car makers start building cars people want to buy. Something tells me that’s not likely – GM is down to 8 months of operating capitol, and with management that bad, I don’t think a loan will help them out.

Here It Comes

They have been saying it won’t happen in the Middle East. They have been saying that nothing will touch the growth of Dubai, Riyadh or any of the oil-rich countries in the area. And now, Saudi is showing the first signs of a liquidity problem.

“Interbank rates in Saudi Arabia have more than doubled since early May as credit markets tightened and investors withdrew bets on Gulf states revaluing their dollar-pegged currencies to fight inflation.”

This should be interesting. What happens to Dubai when the speculators can’t make money flipping houses? The same thing that happened in the US – a massive “correction” in the economy, and the possibility of a government bailout. Maybe the housing prices here will finally come down.

UPDATE: Saudi claims nothing’s wrong.