Skyway Recommended May 27th to June 1st
This week: Canadians Lax on Privacy; Facebook Wants to Listen to you; Vancouver a New Tech Hub; Canada Hit by PoS Infection; Canada Relaxes Flight Restrictions on Mobile
Globe and Mail | Canadians are lax on privacy, Senate committee hears
Canadians are “stupid” and post far too much information online, a former head of the national electronic spying agency says, leaving the country with a “long ways to go” in protecting personal information in an Internet era. Read More…
Forbes | Facebook Wants To Listen In On What You’re Doing
Facebook had two big announcements this week that show the company’s wildly divergent takes on the nature of privacy. One announcement is that the company is encouraging new users to initially share only with their “friends” rather than with the general public, the previous default. And for existing users, the company plans to break out the old “privacy dinosaur” to do a “ check-up” to remind people of how they’re sharing. Facebook employees say that using an extinct creature as a symbol for privacy isn’t subtle messaging, but simply an icon to which their users respond well. Meanwhile, Facebook’s second announcement indicated just how comfortable they think their users are in sharing every little thing happening in their lives. Read More…
Businessweek | Vancouver, the New Tech Hub
In the heart of downtown Vancouver, construction workers are installing glass facades on two office towers. One will be an engineering hub for Microsoft (MSFT), the other for Amazon.com (AMZN). Facebook (FB), Salesforce.com (CRM), and a bunch of startups with less familiar names have also been setting up shop in the city. In addition to great views in a convenient time zone, Vancouver offers U.S. tech companies world-class talent, lower salaries, and few immigration headaches. Read More…
IT World Canada | Canada Hit by Worldwide PoS Infection
Retailers’ point-of-sale (PoS) systems seem to be one of the soft targets for cybercriminals looking to steal payment and credit card information from unsuspecting users. A huge global botnet, discovered last week, affected some 1500 point-of-sale terminals, accounting systems and other retail platform belonging to businesses in 36 countries, including Canada. Read More…
Reuters | Canada relaxes restrictions on mobile devices in flight
Canada, following the lead of the United States and the European Union, on Monday relaxed official restrictions on using mobile devices in flight while maintaining a ban on transmitting information. Read More…