• Social media analytics help emergency responders

    If you think keeping up with what is happening via Twitter, Facebook, and other social media is like drinking from a fire hose, multiply that by seven billion — and you will have a sense of what researchers who are working on SALSA (SociAL Sensor Analytics) are facing. Efforts of emergency responders and public health advocates could be boosted by SALSA.

  • NYPD issues strict guidelines for use of social media by officers

    The New York Police Department (NYPD) has issued strict guidelines for employees using social media, and ordered its employees to take a second look at their profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites to ensure they conform to the new rules. The NYPD follows other police departments around the country in insisting that police officers draw a clearer line between their private life, as reflected in their social media postings, and their official duties.

  • Google’s assault on privacy: a reminder

    A year ago, on 1 March 2012, Goggle launched its privacy-eroding policy of combining and collating users’ information across all of Goggle’s products. Google offers no opt-out option. Forcing consumers to share every aspect and nuance of their Internet practices with the company was not enough for Google. Yesterday, the attorney generals of thirty-eight states reached an agreement with Google concerning Google’s practice of spying on Wi-Fi users. The company sheepishly admitted that its Street View Vans collected 600GB of user data from unprotected Wi-Fi networks, and was fined a measly $7 million.

  • Surveillance system identifies, tracks emerging infectious diseases

    Researchers have developed a method to identify the cause of infectious disease outbreaks based on online reports about the symptoms, the season, and the ratio of cases to fatalities. Using data from the Internet outbreak reporting system ProMED-mail, the researchers applied this method to more than 100 outbreaks of encephalitis in South Asia, recently identified as an emerging infectious disease “hotspot.”

  • Thwarting facial-recognition, photo-tagging software

    Information about when and where photographed subjects were when their pictures were taken is readily disclosed through photos taken, and the information is disclosed and distributed without their permission. The problem has become even worse due to the popularization of portable terminals with built-in cameras and developments in SNS and image search technologies. Japanese researchers offer a solution: goggles or glasses which, when equipped with near-infrared LED emitter. :

  • Social networks helping during disasters

    In 2005, when Katrina hit New Orleans, social networking Web sites were not as popular or as informative as they are today. Facebook was only up for a year at that point and was still restricted to college students only; Twitter was not started until 2006, and most local governments did not use the Internet for daily updates and information; advancements in social networking Web sites and in technology made a big difference for victims of Sandy

  • Social media as preventative method for infectious diseases

    When it comes to stopping illness, social media posts and tweets may be just what the doctor ordered; researchers are studying whether a well-timed post from a public authority or trustworthy person could be as beneficial as flu shots, hand-washing, or sneezing into an elbow

  • Searching social media sources by geography

    Geofeedia, has created a group of algorithms that can search multiple social media sources by geography in real time; the postings, pictures, and tweets that show up in the results of a search are geolocation-enabled, are free, and results can be streamed on a mobile device, computer, or tablet. Businesses may have to pay a fee for more intensive searches

  • iPhone app lets border crossers determine best time to cross U.S. border

    Excessive border waits cause $2.5 billion in losses annually to the San Diego regional economy, with typical two-hour delays for trucks at commercial crossings into San Diego County costing the county $455 million in annual revenue from reduced freight activity; new “crowdsourced” information app allows motorists to decide the best time to cross the border by car or truck; the app’s information is meshed with the data on wait times at the border from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to improve the accuracy of the wait times

  • Law-enforcement agencies eager for Web-surveillance tools

    Private technology firms are pitching software capable of analyzing large swaths of the Internet to local law enforcement looking for ways to stop the next mass shooting or domestic terrorist event before it happens; police departments hope the software will help them detect online information from terrorists, traffickers, pedophiles, and rioters

  • ACLU-sponsored app keeps police accountable

    A new app from the ACLU of New Jersey allows people securely and discreetly to record and store interactions with police, as well as provide legal information about citizens’ rights when interacting with the police

  • New Facebook app detects pedophiles, criminals

    Researchers have developed a new privacy solution for Facebook; the Social Privacy Protector (SPP), developed by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) undergraduate students, can help parents adjust their children’s profiles in one click, prevent criminals from gathering valuable personal information, and keep teens safe from pedophiles

  • DHS forced to release list terms it monitors on social media

    Following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Electronic Privacy Information center (EPIC), DHS was forced to release its 2011 Analyst’s Desktop Binder; the binder, among other things, contains a list of words DHS uses as triggers of suspicious communication when the department’s analysts monitor social media

  • Using Twitter to share information after a disaster

    A new study shows how people used Twitter following the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan, highlighting challenges for using the social media tool to share information; the study also indicates that social media have not changed what we communicate so much as how quickly we can disseminate it

  • FBI seeking wiretap-ready Web

    As communications have changed in recent years from the traditional telephone system to the Internet, the FBI has found itself facing greater difficulty in carrying out surveillance operations; the agency is asking Internet companies not to oppose a coming proposal which would require them to provide a surveillance backdoor