Recent blog posts

Guess what? Your identity just got stolen

LexisNexis, Kroll, and Dunn & Bradstreet have been thoroughly pwned by identity stealing hackers. Who pays the price? You and me.
Acxiom knows all your secrets

Its new Audience Operating System combines your online and offline identities into one -- the better to sell you stuff. UPDATE: Acxiom …
Browser cookies are dead, but online tracking is still alive and kicking

Tracking cookies are so five minutes ago. The new privacy boogiemen? Google's AdID and browser fingerprinting.
An Epic way to surf in private

The Epic browser gives you all the privacy tools you could want in one easy package. Hope it's not a secret NSA plant in disguise.
What does Acxiom know about you? More than you think, not all of it true

AboutTheData.com lets you peel back the cover of the data mining giant and look inside. You may be surprised what you find there.
Apple gives all of us the finger

By building a fingerprint reader into the next gen iPhone, Apple has ushered in the golden age of biometric IDs – for better and worse.
Smartphone apps: Coming to a car near you

Everyone knows the smartphone industry is apps driven by apps. Soon, your car may also be ‘driven’ by apps. Is that a good thing? It …
Is LinkedIn creating phantom profiles for 12 year olds?

Young teens and tweens aren't supposed to have LinkedIn accounts, but they do -- thanks in large part to LinkedIn's aggressive …
Phishers cast a wide net and catch a whale: The New York Times
Insta-quiz: Which NSA blog is the real NSA blog?

Who says our nation's spooks aren't down with the kids? The NSA has just launched a new "transparency hub". Can you …

What kind of Internet user are you?

Are you an open sharer, a passive user, or a proactive protector? How and where you surf says a lot about how much you value privacy

By Dan Tynan

Now read this:

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

Axciom exposed: A peek inside one of the world’s largest data brokers

What do data miners really know about us? We may soon find out.

Guess what? Your identity just got stolen

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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.