Europe v Facebook Privacy Campaign Group Is Preparing To Sue Facebook In Ireland, Sets Up Crowdfunding Platform To Fund Court Costs

As Facebook take a poll poll that looks very likely to result in Facebook  – the European activists behind the Europe v Facebook campaign group, which accuses Facebook of violating Europe’s Data Protection Laws, have stepped up their long running battle against the social network. The group has indicated it is preparing to sue Facebook in Ireland — the location of Facebook’s international headquarters — and has set up a crowdfunding to raise the €100,000 to €300,000 needed to fund legal action.

“We now hope for a soon settlement of our complaints. Simultaneously we have to assume that the authority in many cases won’t decide in the favor of users but in the favor of Facebook. Such a decision can be contested by us at court,” the group notes.

The group is unhappy with the Irish Data Protection Authority’s report into privacy and data protection on Facebook — and wants legally binding decisions to resolve all its 22 complaints against Facebook (listed in full in Europe v Facebook's counter report, with current status of the complaints shown at the end of this article). Back in September the Irish DPA Report said Facebook had implemented to its satisfaction “the great majority” of its recommendations — including turning off a facial recognition feature in Europe. However Europe v Facebook believe the audit was not rigorous enough — noting that

The Irish authority has taken many important steps which moved privacy on Facebook forward, but when looked at it in more detail, has not always delivered solid and fact based results. Facebook’s statements were simply adopted, even though many of them can be disproven with a few screenshots. It seems like Facebook has also fooled the authority in some cases or did at least not stick to their promises.
None of our complaints are currently resolved, since many were just worked on superficially. We also had to find out that the Irish authority is not in line with the common legal understanding within the EU, expressed in the Article 29 Working Party’s opinions.

The group has now published a ‘counter report‘, responding to the DPA’s report. The counter report summarises the group’s position that while the DPA’s audit of Facebook has led to “many achievements” — such as Facebook having to disclose more data it holds per user, limit data retention periods for certain data and switching off facial recognition in the EU — it has not satisfactorily resolved all complaints. “After a detailed analysis of the ‘audit’ documents it became clear that the authority has taken very important first steps, but that it has not always delivered accurate and correct results,” the group notes.

“A non-binding audit might not need such accuracy, but we expect that the authority goes into every detail when deciding about our complaints. In some cases we also had to wonder if the authority has really checked Facebook’s claims, or if they have blindly trusted Facebook,” said Max Schrems, spokesman for europe-v-facebook.org, in a statement. “We have strictly followed the opinions of the comity of the EU data protection authorities (“Article 29 Working Party”). The Irish authority’s interpretation is often contrary to the rest of the EU.”

“We have to understand the position of the Irish authority: They had to deal with a whole armada of lawyers from Facebook,” Schrems added. ”On the other hand we have a fundamental right to privacy and data protection in the EU. When it comes to basic freedoms and fundamental rights our understanding for the situation of the authority comes to an end.”

Europe v Facebook claims that more than 40,000 Facebook users who have requested a copy of their data from Facebook have yet to receive it — its counter report notes: “The legal deadline of 40 days to deliver all data has passed 13 times.” The group also wants answers on why Facebook has only deactivated facial recognition in Europe, noting: “it is unclear why this was only deactivated for EU citizens, because Ireland is responsible for all users outside of the US and Canada. In addition, the technical implementation of this ban is unclear”.

Europe v Facebook says its next steps will be to again ask the DPA to “deliver all necessary files and evidence” — noting that: “So far we were not allowed to even see the counterarguments by Facebook”, adding: “After this we will ask for a formal, legally binding decision on all 22 complaints.”

We’ve reached out to Facebook for a comment on Europe v Facebook’s latest steps and will update this story with any response.

Below is a screengrab of the current status of Europe v Facebook’s complaints against the site — as noted in its counter report

Chrome OS: Google’s Most Underrated Project That You’ve Already Been Testing And Just Didn’t Know It

There are hundreds of devices to choose from when you’re considering a new desktop computer, laptop or mobile device. We’re overwhelmed by all of the choices we have, but choice is good. When it comes to computing, as far as operating systems, there are three huge players: Microsoft, Apple and Google. Yes, Google.

A curious thing happened during Chrome - an operating system was born. Perhaps that was the plan all along, one can never truly know with Google. What I do know is that when you’re on the go, especially with a laptop, the primary piece of software that everyone uses is the web browser, so why not build an operating system on top of it?

That’s exactly what Chrome OS is and it’s starting to make its way to consumers. Google has announced strong partnerships with hardware manufacturers like Samsung and Acer to build affordable (not cheap) laptops built for a world that accesses information in the cloud. When I say the cloud, I mean, email, files, web surfing, chatting and social networking. These things are all done very well through the browser and not through an installed desktop application.

You’d be hard-pressed to find something that you can’t do through the browser, and need actual installed software for. For me, it was using Spotify to listen to music, but that's being sorted out as we speak I sat down with the Chrome OS team to discuss its evolution and current iteration and came away quite impressed.

THE OS

Chrome OS is an open-source operating system built on many of the things that you might be using already with the Chrome browser. Everything is quite familiar, with the full integration of all of Google’s core products: Drive, Chrome, Gmail, Play, Plus, and of course Search. If you use Google products, then using Chrome OS will be an extremely natural experience for you.

Everything runs pretty quickly on the device that I’m using right now, the latest Samsung Chromebook. I find that I’m not looking to drag and drop things onto a desktop, because it gets messy. Instead, everything is held in an internal filesystem that can be dragged and dropped anywhere, including Google Drive. This makes for moving files between systems super simple. Since all of the things you would probably want to do are available via Chrome extensions, you’ll be able to evolve your environment as new things become available.

Speaking of super simple, I was able to open this laptop, log in with my Google credentials, and start using it as if it were my tablet or phone within three minutes. Since everything is synced, it doesn’t matter what device you’re using in a Google world. It just works. And more importantly, it’s easy to iterate on, on the fly.

Caesar Sengupta, Product Management Director on Chrome OS at Google, told me:

The story for Chrome OS starts way back. It starts with the browser, Chrome. Google’s a web company: We push the boundaries of the web; everything we do is largely on the web. One of the things we realized early on was the web wasn’t keeping up with the potential of what the web could be. We were building apps like Gmail and Google News – rich and vibrant. Browsers weren’t able to handle it. And the web is a platform that allows you to deploy globally without installation. You could pick up any machine login and work. In order to build fun and sexy stuff, you have to build on it.

THE HARDWARE

The hardware itself, like I mentioned, the Samsung Coockbook, looks strikingly similar to the MacBook Air. Yes, start your complaining about copycatting now, that’s not the point. It’s light, runs quickly, and does exactly what you’d want to do. Especially if you rely on a web browser a lot.

Here are full details about what's inside:

• 11.6’’ (1366×768) display

• 0.7 inches thin – 2.42 lbs / 1.1 kg
• Over 6.5 hours of battery 1
• Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Processor
• 100 GB Google Drive Cloud Storage2 with 16GB Solid State Drive
• Built-in dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
• VGA Camera
• 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
• HDMI Port

• Bluetooth 3.0™ Compatible

It’s pretty impressive, but who cares about all of that. It just works, and it works quite well.

Regarding its strategy in rolling out Chromebook hardware over the past year, Group Product Manager Ryan Tabone told me:

The point of the prototype was to develop the software. Samsung and Acer shipped devices last year – same form factor but based on Atom. We basically just offered these devices online. The people who were ready for it, came to it. We realized at Google this journey is going to take us some time. The world is moving into these ecosystems. For a web company to have hardware, it was an area we needed to have a strong offering in.

THE PRICE

Price is one of those things that trips everyone up. We know what an iPhone costs, kind of. We know what an iPad and a Surface costs. Prices are expensive to some and cheap to others. This particular Samsung Chromebook is $249. You can call it cheap, or you can call it inexpensive. I’ll go with the latter.

The nice part about machines at that pricepoint is that you can get them into the hands of kids. In fact, Google is seeing pretty good traction in schools that are picking up Chromebooks for entire classrooms. They’re easy to administer from a high level and low-priced enough if they were to get broken, stolen or lost.

Also, I tend to break things or drop them in toilets. Don’t ask. In that case, running out and picking up another laptop that I can be up and running on in a matter of minutes in my exact previous state is pretty priceless. So let’s call this thing inexpensive, shall we?

Sengupta had this to say on the price:

There was a core group of people who were using these as additional computers, for other people in the family, like my wife. She does a lot but does it all online.

Tabone had a good point:

When have you ever thought of giving someone a computer as a gift?

Never.

THE POINT

Computing doesn’t have to be difficult, it should be fun and efficient at the same time. You can do both, and Google does a wonderful job of facilitating that with its current suite of products and services. Even if you’re not an Android phone user, which I’m not, you can still find value in Chrome OS.

From a usability, price, and compatibility perspective, it’s difficult to find another operating system on hardware that runs this well, and without so little effort to actually make it work. Basically, you won’t be getting tons of calls from mom and dad on how to use it. That’s good for us, but for them too. It’s empowering. You should use technology, it shouldn’t use you. And the best technology finds itself completely getting out of itself.

If you use the Chrome browser, you’ve already been testing it, you just didn’t know it. Chrome OS won’t change the way that you compute, it’ll just make it easier.

Zynga Loosens Its Deal With Facebook:

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Zynga Loosens Its Deal With Facebook: No Longer Tied To Facebook Ad Units, Credits, Or Exclusivity:

Zynga just filed a document with the SEC outlining new terms in its agreement with Facebook. Overall, it seems that Zynga and Facebook establishing a little more distance and flexibility in their relationship, with Zynga being treated more like any other Facebook developer.

According to the filing, any “standard Zynga game page” that uses Facebook data will now be governed Facebook’s standard terms of service. That means games on Zynga’s new-ish Zynga.com platform are no longer obligated to use Facebook ad units and Facebook credits. In exchange, Zynga’s right to cross-promote its non-Facebook games using Facebook data and email addresses is now limited by the standard terms.

The filing also states that Facebook no longer has the exclusive rights to Zynga’s social game launches. Of course, Zynga still plans to have a big presence on Facebook, saying its games “will generally be available through the Facebook web site concurrent with, or shortly following, the time such game is made available on another social platform or a Zynga property.”

As Mike Issac, the amendment also states that as of March 31 of next year, “Facebook will no longer be prohibited from developing its own games,” although Facebook denies that it has any intention to actually build its own games. Sources close to Facebook-Zynga negotiations tell us Facebook didn’t even want the clause in the filing.

Here’s a statement from Zynga Chief Revenue Officer Barry Cottle:

Zynga’s mission is to connect the world through games. In order to do this, Zynga is focused on building enduring relationships with consumers across all platforms from Facebook and Zynga.com on the web to tablets and mobile. Our amended agreement with Facebook continues our long and successful partnership while also allowing us the flexibility to ensure the universal availability of our products and services.

Opera Maps Global Mobile Social Network Usage:

Opera Maps Global Mobile Social Network Usage: Facebook Most Frequently Visited On Phones In Macau, Twitter In Paraguay:

Want to see an atlas of Facebook mobile usage across the world? Browser maker Opera has released its 2012 State of Mobile Web report which measures social networking popularity by looking at the number of Opera Mini users who visit them. Data is aggregated from the servers powering the browser’s data compression — enabling the company to build up an (anonymous) picture of the mobile social web across more than 190 countries.

Here’s how Facebook mobile usage looks when mapped — with darker coloured regions denoting a higher percentage of Opera Mini visitors

From a glance at the graphic it appears that North America should claim the Facebook usage crown but the top-ranking Facebook territory, in terms of percentage of Opera Mini users who visit per month, is actually Macau — where more than 90 percent of all Opera Mini users visit Facebook at least once per month, according to Opera’s data. In the US, the figure is a more modest 49.54 percent.

Unsurprisingly, Facebook tops the list of most popular social networks globally — with 50.6 percent of Opera Mini’s 194 million users visiting it on their phone at least once during the month of October. In terms of total user numbers — not only percentage of users — Opera says Asian countries are on top of the list for Facebook: namely Indonesia and India, followed by Nigeria, Mexico, Vietnam, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Russia and Turkey.

Here’s the corresponding map for Twitter mobile usage

The top countries for total usage for Twitter are remarkably similar to Facebook, according to Opera’s data: with Indonesia on top, followed by India, Nigeria, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Kenya and the Philippines. When it comes to highest number of visits to Twitter on mobile per month, Paraguay takes the lead ahead of Japan.

Opera notes that most countries have “one extremely dominant social network” but its data also shows certain countries have a more diverse spread of social-networking activity. It singles out European high-tech hub Estonia as having “remarkable” diversity compared to most other nations — as well as high Facebook and Twitter usage, regional networks such as Odnoklassniki and VKontakte also do well there, it says.

Other countries who avoid a social networking mono-diet include Israel and Latvia, according to the data.

Microsoft Reportedly Planning OS X-Style Cheap, Annual Windows Updates

Microsoft might be figuring out that the best way to get users to use its product isn’t by charging an arm and a leg for updates and releasing them only once every few years. Redmond is reportedly switching to an approach like that taken by rival Apple, delivering inexpensive, annual updates that are less dramatic but which are designed to get all users on board a unified platform.

Apple follows a similar pattern with OS X, one which began taking shape with Snow Leopard, with lower upgrade costs for it and subsequent versions, and culminating with the release of Mountain Lion this year, just one year after the introduction of Lion in 2011. For Apple, it’s a model that makes sense; the company has never been very stringent about anti-piracy measures for its desktop OS, even when it used to cost considerably more money. That’s because Apple makes money on hardware, and that’s its primary focus. Software is a tool it can use to drive more hardware sales, not its central focus.

For Microsoft, shifting to a model where, if The Verge’s sources are correct, updates to future versions of Windows after it institutes this strategy will be cheap or even free, the ramifications are very different. The program begins with a version called Windows Blue, according to the report, which echoes an earlier one by ZDNet. Windows Blue will arrive in the middle of next year some time, and will bring modifications to the user interface, along with deeper platform changes and the aforementioned drastic shift in pricing.

What’s changed? Well, Microsoft has been changing its business in a number of ways recently. First, Windows 8 actually ships with ads included. Second, there’s much more focus on the Windows marketplace as a distribution method. And finally, Redmond is making its own computer hardware again, and selling that hardware directly to consumers, which is a marked departure from its sole dependence on OEM PC-maker partners. A changed Microsoft means that it can pursue a different plan for building and shipping software.

And while it’s easy to see this as Microsoft following a trick that has worked for Apple in the past, it’s more about evolving desktop software to mimic mobile platform iteration cycles. Consumers are doing more and more of their computing on mobile devices, and a mobile OS updates more frequently than we’ve traditionally seen on the desktop, with punctuated bursts of feature additions and plenty of maintenance updates.

If Microsoft is serious about unifying its platform experiences across various types of devices, including the Xbox, Windows PCs, tablets and smartphones, than this type of upgrade path and aggressive pricing makes plenty of sense.

Giant 'Transformer' robot worth $1.34 million:

Giant 'Transformer' robot worth $1.34 million unveiled:

Like many Japanese, Kogoro Kurata grew up watching futuristic robots in movies and animation, wishing that he could bring them to life and pilot one himself. Unlike most other Japanese, he has actually done it.His 4-tonne, 4-metre (13 feet) tall Kuratas robot is a grey behemoth with a built-in pilot's seat and hand-held controller that allows an operator to flex its massive arms, move it up and down and drive it at a speed of up to 10 kph (6 mph).
"The robots we saw in our generation were always big and always had people riding them, and I don't think they have much meaning in the real world," said Kurata, a 39-year-old artist.
"But it really was my dream to ride in one of them, and I also think it's one kind of Japanese culture. I kept thinking that it's something that Japanese had to do."
His prototype robot comes equipped with an operating system that also allows remote control from an iPhone as well as optional "guns" that shoot plastic bottles or BB pellets and are powered by a lock-and-load system fired by the pilot's smile.
The robot, which took two years to pull together from concept to construction, also comes with a range of customised options from paint scheme to cup holders.
It isn't cheap. The sticker price for the most basic model alone is around 110 million yen (approximately $1.34 million)
Kurata said while he has received thousands of inquiries about buying a robot, he's also received a large number of cancellations and declined to specify how many people have actually bought one.
But that's not so important.
"By my building this, I hope that it'll sort of be the trailblazer for people who can do more than myself to make different things," he said.
"They might be able to make a society that uses robots in a way I can't even imagine. I expect more from the implications of building it than from the robot itself." 

Smartphone use increases security risks

           Modern smartphones are becoming technologically more advance and so does the latest security threats and risks.Though all mobile os, including android ,are trying to be accurate and block all the loopholes ; but there are always some drawbacks, as complication arises.So programmers have to balance between them. Functionality and security are inverse to each other.It means that if a system is supposed to be functionally better, then it's security is not that much perfect.Programmers have to balance between them, they have consider both functionality and security. So, there always exists some security loopholes.

         1. Cyber criminals are using phony applications and messages to hijack mobile.
         2.Open Wi-fi increases the security risks.
         3.Android and windows devices are reported that often targeted by spyware, including one system called FinFisher, capable of taking a mobile device, or Loozfon, "an information-stealing piece of malware."
         4.Some fraudsters are using Twitter ads offering special discounts for popular gifts, linking to malicious software.
         5.Be careful what you do on public Wi-Fi networks especially when you're shopping. Do not expose passwords, account numbers or credit card information unless you are certain that you are on a secure connection.
       So, you have to use secure wi-fi and download apps for trusted website.

Steve Jobs' house burgled, thief pleads no contest

Steve Jobs' house burgled:

A California man accused of breaking into Steve Jobs' house and stealing computers and the Apple co-founder's wallet has pleaded no contest to burglarising homes across the San Francisco Bay area.

Kariem McFarlin accepted a plea deal and was convicted on Wednesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court on eight felony counts of residential burglary and one felony count of selling stolen property.

McFarlin was initially charged in August with one count each of residential burglary and selling stolen property after Jobs' Palo Alto home was broken into in July. He apparently didn't realise he was in Jobs' house until he saw a letter addressed to the Silicon Valley icon, who died in October 2011.

During the 15-hour overnight heist, McFarlin took the late Jobs' wallet and driver's license as well as iPhones, iPads, iPods, Mac computers, champagne and $60,000 worth of Tiffany jewelry, police said.

Investigators from a task force eventually linked the 35-year-old to seven other burglaries in Alameda, Marin and San Francisco dating back to March 2011, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Prosecutors in those other counties agreed to resolve all of the burglary cases in Santa Clara County, said deputy district attorney Thomas Flattery, who filed an amended criminal complaint on Wednesday.

"I think it's a good outcome," Flattery said about McFarlin's no contest plea. "I think the case demonstrates a couple of things. Really, it's a good example of judicial economy and cooperation between the various counties to resolve everything at once.

"And it's also an example of the work a multi-jurisdictional task force can do to bring them all together."

McFarlin could face up to seven years and eight months in prison when he's scheduled for sentencing January 17.

He could have received a maximum of 16 years and four months behind bars, but Judge Thang Nguyen Barrett offered to cap the sentence at seven years and eight months in exchange for McFarlin's no contest plea, Flattery said.

Police previously said the Alameda resident confessed to breaking into Jobs' home.

New technology could allow governments to hear Skype conversations

New technology could allow governments to hear Skype conversations:

New eavesdropping technology could allow government agencies to 'silently record' conversations on Internet chat services like Skype.

Until now, so called voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services have been difficult to tap into, because of the way they send information over the web. The services convert analogue audio signals into digital data packets, which are then sent in a way that is costly and complex for third parties to intercept, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

But now a California businessman has obtained a patent for a 'legal intercept' technology he said "would allow governments to "silently record" VoIP communications".Dennis Chang, president of VoIP-PAL, a chat service similar to Skype, claims his system would allow authorities to identify and monitor suspects merely by accessing their username and subscriber data, the paper quoted Slate magazine as reporting. According to the patent, they could also be tracked down by billing records that associate names and addresses with usernames.

Such a capability would make not only audio conversations but 'any other data streams such as pure data and/or video or multimedia data' open for interception. Internet users who are paranoid enough to use false subscriber data and services to mask their IP addresses could be able to circumvent the identification.

Chang's patent could restructure the way VoIP data is sent over the Internet to make it much easier for authorities to track calls.

The expansion of 4G mobile networks, which can carry large amounts of data, have made it easier than ever for people to make cheap VoIP calls almost anywhere and the number of mobile users of such services is expected to reach 410 million by 2015, the paper said. In response the increasing popularity, the UK, US and other countries have sought to compel VoIP providers to install technology that would allow 'lawful interception' of conversations.

The patent filed by Chang's company marks just one entrant into a battle to capitalise on this race to provide the next generation of online surveillance technology.

Originally filed in 2007, it was followed two years later by a similar patent by Microsoft - owner of Skype - to 'silently copy communication transmitted via the communication session'.

Japan's new nuclear-proof robot gets stage fright

Japan's new nuclear-proof robot gets stage fright

A Japanese robot designed to withstand high levels of radiation and extreme heat at damaged nuclear plants such as Fukushima froze on Wednesday on its first public demonstration.

Despite being home to the largest number of industrial robots in the world, Japan did not have a device capable of entering the damaged Fukushima nuclear facility after last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Instead, Japan brought in U.S. robots to survey the extent of the damage inside the reactor buildings.

Toshiba Corp unveiled Japan's own nuclear-proof robot on Wednesday, a four-legged device able to carry up to 20 kg of equipment and capable of lifting itself up if it falls over on uneven surfaces and amid debris.

During the demonstration, the robot experienced a case of stage fright. The shuffling Tetrapod locked up and suddenly froze after it tried to balance itself, forcing technicians to carry it away.

It is the second time such Japanese robotic technology has experienced problems. Last October, a crawling robot developed by the Chiba Institute of Technology lost connection with operators and was abandoned inside Fukushima's No. 2 reactor building.