Privacy… What Privacy??

 

For those who might have missed the memo, Yahoo and AOL joined forces in June 2017 to form another massive Mutlimedia/Communications/Internet company offering both free and paid-for services to the public of the world (not forgetting the Corporates too!); that corporation is named: OATH.

Oath is a word with two meanings according to Oxford Dictionaries:

noun.

a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one’s future action or behaviour.

a profane or offensive expression used to express anger or other strong emotions.

Feel free to decide for yourself which might be most appropriate here. 😉

 

My reason for posting this though is to highlight Oath’s (and therefore most other major internet communication companys) current ‘Privacy Policy’ regarding user’s information and data.

 

I quote:

 

• We’ve updated how we collect and use data. We’ve updated some of the ways we collect and analyze user data in order to deliver services, content, and relevant advertising to you and protect against abuse. This includes:
  • Analyzing content and information (including emails, instant messages, posts, photos, attachments, and other communications) when you use our services. This allows us to deliver, personalize and develop relevant features, content, advertising and services
  • Linking your activity on third-party sites and apps with information we have about you
  • Providing anonymized and aggregated reports to other parties regarding user trends

 

…protect against abuse???? I highly doubt that!

But it is the second and third highlighted comments that are most relevant here:

Oath can read and ‘analyse’:

all your personal mail,

all instant or direct messaging,

all your blog or social media posts,

all photos and any ‘other’ communications

when you use their service to access them.

So much for privacy.

Secondly, they can :

Link your activity on third-party sites and apps with information we (already) have about you.

This means they can track and store information on every website you visit and what you do there, what you read and for how long and the same for all apps you use via any of their services.

As they say: if you are not paying for a product – you ARE the product ( they OWN you/your data.)

Just when did the Western World become the Nazis or the Stasi or the KGB who build up dossiers of the minutest detail on their citizen ‘customers’??

Did any of us even notice? Or care that this happened to us in our lifetime?

I’m guessing not many did – and like Melania – most don’t really care….. YET!!!

 

On a related issue i recently managed to re-open a Hotmail account from Microsoft MSN after a loooong period of inactivity and noticed they were kind enough to inform me of  unauthorised attempts to hack into my account in the last month:

They got my location wrong, but that’s fine by me but i have never been to either Russia or Columbia so i know those two attempts to get into my unused account were not by me!

 

If they are trying to hack my accounts roughly twice every month there’s more than a fair chance they are doing the same to yours so don’t think it could never happen to me – cos it is and will in the future Don’t make it easy for them, protect yourself as best you can – if you can’t then ask someone who knows and can be trusted.

 

Finally as a balance to the bad stuff in the world – remember there is also this: 🙂

 

love.