Recent blog posts

When it comes to privacy, we’re all just pretty little liars

More than 90 percent of people lie about their personal information online, according to a survey by Customer Commons. And who can blame …
Four reasons why you should worry about online tracking (and advertising isn't one of them)

Pay no attention to the advertisers behind the curtain. The real battle over Do Not Track is bigger and scarier than which ads you're …
Who is tracking you across the Web? Even the ad industry doesn’t know

Web tracking has become so widespread that nobody knows who all these companies are or what data they're collecting.
Help, I'm being stalked by the BBC (and also online advertisers)

Web trackers are indeed following you -- though probably not as closely as one BBC reporter just did to me.
Millennials do care about Internet privacy, they’re just smarter about it

An Annenberg Center survey reveals younger folks are more willing to share personal data -- but also more likely to demand something in …
Why opt out is such a cop out

Don't like being tracked? Just opt out, says the ad industry -- and then makes that process as onerous as humanly possible.
Need a music fix? Tune into Murfie

Want to pack off your CDs, stream music to any device, and buy or swap albums for a song? Murfie will be music to your ears.
Further adventures in data mining, Or welcome to my Lear Jet lifestyle

Data miners like Acxiom know a lot about you -- or at least they think they do. We may soon find out exactly how much.
Why is RapLeaf still tracking me across the Web?

Data aggregator RapLeaf is still collecting sensitive data about me -- despite the fact I opted out of their database more than two years …
Facebook’s new ‘Home’ won’t solve its advertising problem

Facebook has an ad problem but it has nothing to do with phones. It's that Facebook ads are rife with spammers and scammers.

Faking it on Foursquare: Beware of bogus beauties bearing spam

Foursquare fakes are being used to promote travel apps, and the tools to fight them are virtually nonexistent. Get ready for a GPS spamdemic.

By Dan Tynan

Got a question about social media or privacy? TY4NS blogger Dan Tynan may have the answer (and if not, he’ll make something up). Visit his snarky, occasionally NSFW blogeSarcasm or follow him on Twitter: @tynanwrites. For the latest IT news, analysis and how-to’s, follow ITworld on Twitter and Facebook.

Now read this:

Web trackers are totally out of control

Further adventures in data mining, or welcome to my Lear Jet Lifestyle

Four reasons why Do Not Track turned into Do Not Trust

Follow Dan on Google+

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.