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From:
LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
LibLicense-L Discussion Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 12 Feb 2014 10:57:27 -0500
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From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 08:49:37 -0500

Ken,

No quarrel with anything you have here, but you are looking at this
from the point of view of the end-user, which is only part of the
equation.  What has caught my attention is that some organizations
(and I am thinking in particular of universities and university
presses) may be collecting data without knowing it or at least without
their staff knowing all the implications.  That's how I interpret Eric
Hellman's earlier comment.  I am still investigating this and would
certainly like to know if anyone can cite instances of tracking and
data collection by such organizations.

Joe Esposito


On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 6:52 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> From: Ken Masters <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 08:59:43 +0100
>
> Hi All
>
> Eric is quite right.  There are, though, several problems:
>
> 1.  Not everyone knows that Google Analytics is running (how many
> people on this list knew it?).
> 2.  Not everyone knows how to disable it. (how many people on this
> list knew it?).
> 3.  Experience of social media has taught us that privacy policies are
> not cast in stone, and can change at any moment.  (Google and Facebook
> are prime examples of this.)
> 4.  The data collected are not 100% safe.  (No-one can guarantee that).
> 5.  While many information-gatherers anonymise data, there is no set
> procedure or protocol for doing so, and the process of de-anonymising
> data is advanced.  There there are several studies showing how
> successful this process is (and it requires nothing illegal, no
> hacking, etc).
> 6.  Google Analytics is only one.  There are hundreds.
>
> Unfortunately, the bottom line is simple.  If you're doing any of these:
> - using a standard browser (e.g. Firefox, IE, Chrome), without any blockers
> - using a standard email account (e.g. gmail, yahoo, or your
> university or company account)
> - using your standard email address to access ANY public discussion
> group (including this one), social networking site, blog or newspaper
> comment page, etc.
> - not using a secure virtual private network (VPN)
> - not frequently and regularly running anti-virus and anti-spyware
> software (ignore your institutional safeguards - install your own),
>
> Then you can safely assume that your activities are being tracked and
> archived, either by the service providers (and then passed on to third
> parties) or by third parties directly.
>
> George Orwell was an optimist.  Be careful what you type next :-)
>
>
> Regards
>
> Ken
>
> ------
>
> Dr. Ken Masters
> Asst. Professor: Medical Informatics
> Medical Education Unit
> College of Medicine & Health Sciences
> Sultan Qaboos University
> Sultanate of Oman
> E-i-C: The Internet Journal of Medical Education

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