Thank You For Not Sharing

Thank You For Not Sharing (TY4NS) is about your personal privacy and how it's being systematically dismantled by Facebook, Twitter, Google, geo-tracking services, wireless companies, the NSA, your boss, Chinese spies, evil Ukranian botnets, and that creepy guy in the cubicle down the hall. Along with a fair amount of whining, it will offer useful advice about what you should and shouldn't share online, why you should care, and what you can do about getting some of your privacy back before it's too late (and no, it's not too late -- yet).

by Dan Tynan

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Author Dan Tynan has been writing about Internet privacy for the last 3,247 years. He wrote a book on the topic for O'Reilly Media (Computer Privacy Annoyances, now available for only $15.56 at Amazon -- order yours today) and edited a series of articles on Net privacy for PC World that were finalists for a National Magazine Award. During his spare time he is part of the dynamic duo behind eSarcasm, the not-yet-award-winning geek humor site he tends along with JR Raphael.

Warning: Fake LinkedIn spam can steal your bank passwords

Posted Sep 27, 2010 - 05:26 pm

I feel like a complete idiot. I just got taken by a LinkedIn spam that may have just stolen my banking password. This is not the first time I've been an idiot or clicked on something I shouldn't. But this one could be really bad for me.
Facebook is down down down; film at 11

Posted Sep 22, 2010 - 03:21 pm

As I write this, Facebook appears to be totally down. Unresponsive to external stimuli. In a persistent vegitative state. And I hear from my Twitter peeps it's been sickly most of the day. UPDATE: Official response from Facebook.
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- Internet, Facebook, security
Will the "Facebook phone" become a privacy nightmare?

Posted Sep 20, 2010 - 02:29 pm

The great thing about writing about products that don't yet exist is that you can say virtually anything about them and not be proven wrong.
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- Personal Tech, Facebook, privacy
Yes, Mr. Zuckerberg, we do care about privacy

Posted Sep 16, 2010 - 11:37 am

Privacy is dead, get over it. Sharing is the new social norm. If you're doing something you don't want others to know about, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.
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- Internet, Facebook, Google
Have we entered a computer police state yet?

Posted Sep 14, 2010 - 05:07 pm

"Ok son, pull your laptop over to the side of the road and let me see your hard drive. Warrant?
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- Internet, privacy, security
Hacked! How we got attacked by malware fiends and lived to tell the tale.

Posted Sep 10, 2010 - 06:00 pm

It's one thing to write about hackers, scammers, and malware, as I've done for various venues for the last 15 years. It's quite another to experience the nastiness first hand. Yesterday it was my turn. Here's my story.
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- Internet, hacking, malware attack
Facebook's 'subscribe' takes pain out of online stalking

Posted Sep 06, 2010 - 11:03 am

The problem with stalking people on Facebook is that it's too much damned work. But a new 'Subscribe to person' feature Facebook is testing may make it much easier.
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- Internet, Facebook, privacy
Apple's Ping: A haven for spammers?

Posted Sep 03, 2010 - 01:26 pm

It seems Apple is getting into the social networking business, God help them. Among the other life changing products rolled out at this week's semi-annual Apple fanboyfest this week was "Ping," a service that lets you see what music the other 160 million people using iTunes like and recommend.
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- Internet, Apple, Facebook
Three great moments in Facebook stupidity

Posted Aug 31, 2010 - 11:01 am

It's a cliche, but evidently it bears repeating: What you do on Facebook (and other social networks) can come back to bite you big time. Don't believe it? Consider these three real-world examples, all of which happened in the last month.
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- Internet, Facebook, privacy
How to murder a Flash cookie zombie

Posted Aug 26, 2010 - 03:37 pm

The more I use Adobe Flash, the more I understand why Steve Jobs hates it. I can't tell you how many times a misbehaving Flash video has crashed my browser and/or slowed my system to sludge. Happens at least once a week.
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- Internet, Adobe Flash, cookies

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