Tuesday, January 29, 2008 12:04 PM/EST
How did the Apple store get my e-mail address when all I bought was a case for my iPhone? Several readers of this blog pointed out that I gave Apple my e-mail when I registered for iTunes. And that is true. I also now believe that AT&T didn't give my private information to Apple. And here's why I still think it's disturbing. All I gave the clerk at the Apple store was my credit card. It seems that in order to smooth my customer experience with Apple, the company has linked my credit card number, iTunes account and Apple's wireless point-of-sale check out devices. What bugs me is that I still haven't been able to wade through the 60-plus pages of license and terms of service that I had to accept to get iTunes and my iPhone activated. I think this is an example of Fleet of Lawyers vs. Average...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 12:28 PM/EST
My loss of privacy all started at a company-sponsored health and wellness fair in October. I got my blood pressure tested and my flu vaccine and I entered a drawing for an iPod Shuffle being given away by AC Transit. I occasionally take the transbay bus to work at the Ziff Davis Enterprise office at 2nd and Mission in downtown San Fran and I was mostly interested in getting the free four-ride passes the representative was handing out. As it turned out, I won, and in the mail I received an out-dated, 1GB iPod. Well, to use it I had to get iTunes. And after I got iTunes, I got an iTunes gift certificate for Christmas. And after I loaded up my iPod with the great dance hits of the '80s my beloved Treo started having problems. Readers of this blog know that when I personally bought my Treo 650...
Wednesday, January 02, 2008 4:54 PM/EST
Responding to my Dec. 28, 2007 blog "VOIP Calls Need Strong Privacy Protection," reader JP said I was wrong. First, JP said, if an employee wants to make a personal call from the office that person should use his or her cell phone. Second, JP noted that business phones are for business use and no conversation should be deemed private. Every company I've ever worked for recognized the need for employees to occasionally make short personal telephone calls. And everyone makes business calls that they expect to be private. So, I stand by my assertion that laws and technical practice should place the content of VOIP calls off-limits. Of the times that I've used my office phone to make personal calls, preserving the content of the call would create far greater liability than could be offset by monitoring my productivity. For example, a call to my doctor for test results...
