Author Archives: Phil

Selling You on Facebook

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Phil

‘Selling You on Facebook‘ is a great and timely article in the Wall Street Journal on how (Facebook) apps aggressively hoover up personal data. And not just your data – it’s your friends’ and family’s too… Not so long ago, … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook | Leave a comment

Facebook down? Houston, we have a problem…

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Phil

I thought there was something odd going on this morning, when I found I couldn’t sign up using the e-mail address / username / password option to a site that offered a Facebook sign-up option – not that I’d ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook | Leave a comment

Facebook gangsterism

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Phil

If a representative of an organisation came to you and said, “We know who you are – your name, where you live, what you like, what you look like, what you believe. And we know who your friends are too. … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook | Leave a comment

What is the digital equivalent of…?

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Phil

…a gun? “What is the digital equivalent of…?” is a thought experiment I have been playing myself and with various other people since the early 90s. It asks about the nature of things in the new digital / information world … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, Google, identity | Leave a comment

It’s not ‘hacking’ if you guess someone’s PIN

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Phil

I do wish people would stop giving hackers and hacking a bad name. Hackers, in my experience, are extremely competent people who often have a pretty acute if not always ‘comfortable’ or mainstream sense of ethics. Unlike ‘script kiddies’, certain … Continue reading →

Posted in privacy | Leave a comment