Posts About ‘Privacy’

Facebook turns web upside down, watch out Google, watch out privacy

The world wide web used to be simple: you had websites and you had Google indexing them. Based on the ‘Google formula’ they would rank in a way Google thought was best, and we’d agree. Ok, this might be a little bit exaggerated, but its the essence of how we work with Google. Yesterday at the Facebook f8 conference however things changed.

Google is one of the biggest players, if not the biggest player out there. There have been many over the past decade who have tried to compete with the search giant and none of them really succeeded. Bing probably made the most impact, but only because it won a few percentages of market share in the search area. But now Facebook has stepped in. And they make a very good chance of ‘beating’ Google when it comes to web dominance.

Facebook announced several new features with the new Open Graph API, the social plugins and the Open Graph protocol as biggest changes. These elements are supposed to change the way we look at the web. Using this API Facebook will try to integrate websites and applications with your social network. This will mean different ‘points’ on the web you use are connected using your social circle. As Zuckerberg said: people are connecting the web, not links. (more…)

UK about to turn the web upside down? Privacy Bill might do so

The UK is an island, and they say islands are different. In many cases the UK is different from the rest of Europe. They drive on the left for instance. And they are still using the Pound and not the Euro. We can live with that, because we love the Brits. We would even consider moving to the UK because they are a bit ahead of us when it comes to Internet development.

But now the UK government seems to have driven on the left side a bit too much, they must be seeing things the wrong way. Yesterday a Bill passed the House of Lords which will change the UK Internet for ever if it also passes the House of Commons: the “Piracy Bill”, part of the Digital Economy Bill. The passing of the House of Lords however is the most important step. If the Bill makes it many in the UK might just lose their internet access or see their website taken down. (more…)

Google Italy ruling might very well turn out to be a blessing

Last week three Googlers in Italy were convicted to a suspended sentence after they had failed to respond quickly to an uploaded video on Youtube over a year ago which showed Italian youngsters harassing a young boy with Down Syndrom. The response around the web immediately was one of disbelieve. How could Google-employees be sentenced for something they weren’t even directly involved in? Some even came to the conclusion that the ruling was a disaster for the freedom of the web. This could change the web once and for all.

They could be right on the fact that this will change things. However, the ruling in Italy can also turn out to be a blessing in disguise. As I pointed out earlier Google is running into some cultural issues in Europe (and also China by the way). They now see that Europeans have a different take on some things than Americans do. Privacy is a big example of that. If you know Europeans the privacy-issues which now seem to be popping up every week will not come as a surprise. the New York Times analyses the problem very well. They see the clash between European privacy-demands and the US freedom of speech demands.

The fact that Googlers now are sentenced could very well trigger something which will be crucial for the future of the internet: a worldwide consensus on how the rules on the internet will have to work. (more…)

Forget Google Streetview, here is Bing Streetside: wow!

We probably have all seen tons of pictures of Google Streetview cars and trycicles. The presence of the cars and the fact they were taking pictures have gotten many to ask questions about the possible privacy issues. IF Google would ever be forced to do something about their Streetview-pictures, there is a very good alternative waiting for you over at Bing. Heck, I’m even not waiting for Google, I’m switching over now. The “new” Bing Maps is called Streetside Photos and is currently only available in Seattle, San Francisco and Vancouver (Canada).

But what a sight. Streetside uses the Photosynth technology to integrate Flickr photos in Bing Maps. Thus making it a much richer experience than the ‘simple’ Google Streetview. Check it out:

(more…)

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