How Twitter's New Anti-Harassment Filter Works
April 2, 2015 | Technology
Twitter has taken its biggest step yet against harassment. And here's the incredible thing — cue parades, confetti, brass bands, etc. — this new step actually works.
Twitter is calling it a "quality filter," and it's been rolling out to verified users running Twitter's iOS app since last week. It appears to work much like a spam filter, except instead of hiding bots and copy-paste marketers, it screens "threats, offensive language, (and) duplicate content" out of your notifications feed.
On Tuesday —with the help of some sockpuppets …
Help! Someone Is Impersonating Me On Facebook
April 1, 2015 | Technology
Internet spam is everywhere, you get quite a few spam emails every week and if you are active on social sites, you have seen so many spam profiles here and there.
Profile impersonification, however is a serious issue – some people can completely replicate your profile, steal photos from your albums and have the same information displayed on social sites e.g Facebook, Orkut, Myspace.
If you or any of your friends find someone impersonating a Facebook profile, here are the steps to ask Facebook to remove or block the spam profile:
Rem…
Hack Alert: Is Your Uber Account At Risk?
April 1, 2015 | Technology
Hackers are said to have obtained thousands of login details for Uber accounts worldwide - and are selling them for as little as US$1.
Two sellers - known only as Courvoisier and ThinkingForward - are using online marketplaces on the dark web such as AlphaBay to offer this personal information.
And despite claiming these criminals claiming they got the details from hacked accounts, Uber, which launched in New Zealand in last year, said it has found "no evidence" of a security breach in its systems.
The compromised accounts were disc…
How To Stay Private In The New Age Of Surveillance
March 31, 2015 | Technology
It should be noted that privacy in the Internet age is never an entirely assured matter, whether you’re actually involved in nefarious deeds or simply inclined towards keeping your own private matters actually private.
Services which were assumed to have high levels of privacy have been shown to be either buggy or compromised by security agencies of various nations. As always, the golden Internet rule applies, namely that if you don’t want it to be potentially compromised or eavesdropped upon, don’t put it on the Internet in the first…
Danny Toresen On Identity Theft - The Rock
March 30, 2015 | Technology
Danny Toresen speaks to Jono and Ben from The Rock Radio Station about Identity Theft.
Listen here: Danny on The Rock - Identity Theft
Is somebody posing as you online? The Investigators Investigations can help.
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Ugly Mail Identifies Emails That Track You
March 27, 2015 | Technology
Chrome: It’s possible for people to track whether you’ve seen an email using tracking pixels, and if that idea makes you cringe a bit, Ugly Mail warns you when an email you receive can track you.
Ugly Mail monitors your email for tracking pixels from services like Yeswear, Bananatag and Streak.
When you open up an email with tracking pixels, the sender will get information back that you opened it, whether you clicked a link, where you are, and what sort of device you’re on. With Ugly Mail, when you receive an email that’s tracking yo…
Find Out If Your Friends Are On Tinder Using Facebook Graph Search
March 26, 2015 | Technology
Tinder is a popular way of organising casual “hook ups” via your phone, which means many people won’t shout from the rooftops that they’re using it.
However, because Tinder uses Facebook for its user logins, you can find out if friends are seeking some Tinder action with a simple Graph Search query.
Type ‘My friends who use Tinder’ as a query in Facebook and you’ll see who is (at least in theory) happy to hunt down some “special cuddles”.
This only works if Graph Search is enabled for your account. Graph Search is now deployed on al…
Anti-Cyber Bullying Bill Progresses
March 25, 2015 | Technology
A new law to stamp out cyber bullying has passed through another parliamentary stage.
MPs debated the second reading of the Harmful Digital Communications bill on Tuesday night. It will create a new offence of sending messages or posting material to cause harm, punishable by up to two years in jail or a $2000 fine.
Inciting someone to commit suicide will carry a maximum three-year jail sentence.
National and support partners United Future, ACT and the Maori Party voted for the legislation.
But the bill has critics - including Lab…
Australia’s New Cyber-Cop To Go After Internet Trolls / Fine Social Media Companies
March 23, 2015 | Technology
Former Australian Federal Police officer Alastair MacGibbon has become the nation’s new cyber-cop.
Parliamentary Secretary for Communications Paul Fletcher today announced that Mr MacGibbon would be appointed to the newly created role of the Children’s e-Safety Commissioner.
Mr MacGibbon will be empowered to slap big social media companies with fines of up to $17,000 a day if they fail to remove cyber-bullying material targeted at children.
He will also be able to issue internet trolls with formal notices to remove offensive materia…
The Private Investigator Who Spies Using Drones
March 23, 2015 | Technology
Chris Wright is a problem solver. Her clients come to her with an issue, a question, a mystery, and she figures out the best way to find the answer – using whatever tools she can.“I use a combination of new technology and old technology, because I have to solve a problem. So I’ve used everything from geese and dogs to Roombas to drones to GPS.”
Wright is a private investigator – and owner of the Wright Group – based in Anaheim, California. She’s worked in the business for more than 40 years, and has seen the tools available to invest…