This was the top story on the late news last night. Rough story for Rensselaer County. My stepmother was kind enough to mention how she noticed how unkind the camera was to my appearance. Nice.
Because of the relationship we at WSG have with local radio station Talk 1300, a friend of the station invited me to be part of a panel discussion on how to protect one’s self from identity theft. Sandy from the Sanford Financial Group organized the session, and I’m very grateful he invited me.
I was in pretty good company: Colonie Chief or Police Steven Heider, Jay Girvin of Girvin and Ferlazzo attorneys and a representative from the New York State Attorney General’s office (for the life of me, I can’t remember the AG rep’s name, really nice guy). I got a very big kick out of being among such high profile folks, and the audience of around 80 attendees was very nice. You can see what I talked about by reading the post on the WSG.net blog located here.
Beth Wurtman from the local NBC affiliate WNYT 13 covered the session, and interviewed me in the hall during other remarks. Here’s the clip:
Updated II: Facebook capitulates – NYTimes.com: Facebook Withdraws Changes in Data Use. This is good news despite the fact that privacy on the web is still iffy at best, and non-existent at worst. All you have to do is look at recent high-profile hacks at Monster.com and Heartland Payment Systems to see that. We can all do a better job keeping usernames and passwords random and secure, and actually reading terms of service and usage instead of blindly checking the box to agree.
Updated: Facebook’s terms of service and rights it claims over your profile data have caused quite a stir, to use a tired phrase, on the tubes lately. Amanda French at AmandaFrench.net has a great comparison between FB and the other main social networks. This Chicago Tribune poll question asks how the buzz will impact your FB usage. (I use it as seldom as possible anyway.)
If you are on Facebook, if you were on Facebook, if you are thinking about getting on Facebook, if you have friends or family on Facebook, or if you ever publish anything online, please go right now to the Consumerist blog and read about Facebook’s new terms of service. Then go read the terms of service for EVERYTHING you use online. NOW.
Then look at the bottom of the page on the Consumerist’s post – notice anything?
When I read about Jdimytai Damour, the Wal Mart employee who was trampled to death in Valley Stream on Long Island, I had to check and see what country I was in. My response seemed an appropriate topic for the CRIBA blog, so please see it there in full.
