To find out why people adopt and then sometimes abandon online safety measures, researchers from the School of Information surveyed more than 900 people about their use of 30 commonly recommended practices to guard against security, privacy, and identity theft risks. The team found that security practices like avoiding clicking on unknown links or emails were much more… Read More »
ITS Information Assurance has rapidly developed a number of new Safe Computing resources to help you practice and promote good IT security and privacy practices in this new normal: New on Safe Computing and in IT Security at U-M. New resources covering videoconferencing security and privacy, coronavirus scams, how to prevent Zoombombing, new videos, new entries in the… Read More »
This month, I am sharing a few internet search services that focus on privacy. Yes, Google is a great way to find information on the internet. However, there are quite a few alternatives available that may produce similar/better results, do not store user data, provide identical results for all users (not personalized), and do not track you as… Read More »
9/11 changed everything for U-M computer engineering alum Kurt Rohloff. Having grown up in the metro New York City, 9/11 felt especially close to home. It set him on a path to a career in security and U.S. defense. “I got really interested in the areas of data science, analytics, privacy and how one could use privacy technology… Read More »
It might seem pretty safe to add an app that promises to help take control of your health. But doctors who appreciate the research potential of incorporating big data into medical care are also warning about the need to manage the risk of exposing such health data while it’s still possible to do so. “Some health data shared… Read More »
With devices listening everywhere you go, privacy concerns are endemic to advancing technology. For example, a virtual assistant that can learn to adapt to a user’s mood creates more useful, human-like interactions. But what if the audio powering these insights stores the user’s gender and demographic information on company servers – leaving the user open to identification by… Read More »
How can you help people in your unit become aware of their basic data protection responsibilities? Encourage them to take this new, university-focused online course from ITS Information Assurance: DCE101 U-M Data Protection and Responsible Use (in My LINC). The completely new course provides practical guidance and best practices. It replaces what used to be called “DCE101: Access… Read More »
Faculty, staff, and students gathered for a half-day of privacy related speakers and panels at Privacy@Michigan January 28 at the Rackham Building on the UM-Ann Arbor campus. Privacy@Michigan is an annual event hosted by ITS Information Assurance and the U-M School of Information in recognition of Data Privacy Day. If you missed it, you can watch the recordings… Read More »
Wallace House presents Recode’s Kara Swisher interviewing Alex Stamos live on stage at U-M’s Hill Auditorium, March 18, at 6:30 p.m. This event is co-sponsored by ITS, the Dissonance Event Series, and others. Huge tech companies have changed the way we live. Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple have built unprecedented reach into our pocketbooks, privacy, individual liberties, and… Read More »
Wallace House presents Recode’s Kara Swisher interviewing Alex Stamos live on stage at U-M’s Hill Auditorium, March 18, at 6:30 p.m. This event is co-sponsored by ITS, the Dissonance Event Series, and others. Huge tech companies have changed the way we live. Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple have built unprecedented reach into our pocketbooks, privacy, individual liberties, and… Read More »
Svetla Sytch, the recently named assistant director of privacy and IT policy for U-M, brings a unique perspective on privacy and its role in higher education. “When I was growing up in communist Bulgaria, privacy was not a thing. Come to think of it, we did not even have a word for it,” she wrote recently in an… Read More »
Wallace House—along with co-sponsors ITS and the Dissonance Event Series—will present Recode’s Kara Swisher interviewing Alex Stamos live on stage at U-M’s Hill Auditorium on March 18, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. Save the date on your calendar now. Kara Swisher is co-founder and executive editor of Recode and host of the weekly interview podcast “Recode Decode.” She is… Read More »
Celebrate Data Privacy Day on January 28 by attending the Privacy@Michigan symposium. Kathleen Kingsbury, editor of The New York Times Privacy Project, will give the keynote address. Additional privacy experts, to be announced in January, will participate in two panel discussions: It Takes a Village: Multi-Disciplinary Voices on Privacy and Ethics in a Hyper-Connected Age I Always Feel… Read More »
Svetla Sytch joined ITS Information Assurance (IA) as assistant director of privacy and IT policy on November 25. In this role, she will work with partners across the university to craft strategies and lead operational efforts that weave privacy, policy, and data governance into the way the university engages in its teaching, learning, research and administrative activities. “Svetla… Read More »
On January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) goes into effect. As we near that date, be aware that you are likely to start seeing updates and changes to privacy notices and policies for both personal and university online services (such at U-M Google and Box). Any communications about updates to vendor privacy policies and notices… Read More »
The trouble with algorithms, John Cheney-Lippold says, is that while they can pick up online engagements and patterns, algorithms are not able to determine things like emotions.
Mark your calendars for SUMIT_2019, U-M’s 15th annual cyber security conference on Tuesday, October 29 at Rackham Auditorium. Learn more and register today! This free, one-day conference is an exciting opportunity to hear recognized experts discuss the latest issues, trends, and threats in cybersecurity and privacy. SUMIT_2019 focuses on explorations in privacy and security research. SUMIT_2019 speakers Denise… Read More »
A lack of evidence that mental illness is to blame for the U.S.’s spate of mass shootings has not deterred the Trump administration from considering proposed solutions to gun violence based on that belief. A recent one, called SAFEHOME, would use “real-time data analytics” and information gleaned from personal digital devices to identify individuals who might become violent. … Read More »
In an interview with “Kiplinger” magazine, Florian Schaub, assistant professor in the U-M School of Information, discusses how to protect your data given recent concerns about FaceApp, a Russia-based photo manipulation app whose privacy policy made broad claims about how they might reuse images. According to Schaub, unbundling specific aspects of opt-in privacy policies would provide users more… Read More »
The annual Security at University of Michigan IT (SUMIT) symposium will be held on Tuesday, October 29, at Rackham Auditorium on the UM-Ann Arbor campus.