The next time someone tries to “friend” you on Facebook, it may turn out to be an undercover fed looking to examine your private messages and photos, or surveil your friends and family. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has obtained an internal Justice Department document that describes what law enforcement is doing on social networking sites. The 33-page document shows that law enforcement agents from local police…  Read More →

A federal court policy-making body is belatedly entering the internet age by proposing that judges clearly inform jurors they must not electronically discuss cases they are hearing. It’s standard procedure to inform jurors to remain mum and not conduct any research about the case until a verdict. But recent gadget use by jurors has forced the hand of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policy-making body of the federal courts.... 

RockYou, the popular provider of third-party apps for Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking services, is being hit with a proposed class-action accusing the company of having such poor data security that at least one hacker got away with 32 million e-mails and their passwords. The suit accuses the maker of apps like “Slideshow” for MySpace and “Superwall” for Facebook of making its unencrypted customer data “available... 

Part 1: One of the reasons I enjoy creating software is that I’m fascinated by researching and understanding users of the technology we create. I sometimes refer to myself as a software anthropologist. That’s part of why I also enjoy user interface design. So, enough about me… lets get on to the topic. Over time, I’ve noticed how the form of communications we use is generational. By that I mean as time marches on, we create... 

“Crisis brings opportunity to change.” Keep that quote in mind for a moment as you read this blog post. You can’t watch a cable news channel, particularly CNN, without hearing some reference to Twitter. Facebook has pretty much supplanted myspace as the dominant social networking platform, thanks in large part all of the applications, groups, social causes and the beginnings of businesses using Facebook to reach customers. It’s...