Internet

Facebook has been ordered by Ireland to give users greater control over their privacy settings. The order comes after a privacy practices audit that took 3 months to complete. The order will indirectly affect all Facebook accounts, except those held ... inside the US and Canada. (Source: washingtonpost.com ) Facebook Data Commissioner Issues Order The order comes from Billy Hawkes, the data protection commissioner for the Republic of Ireland. His order has such wide effect because all of Facebook's data, outside of North America, is held by a subsidiary based in Ireland and is thus subject to ... (view more)

A survey of British behavior on Facebook suggests the vast majority of pictures on the social network display intoxication, and that users are generally ignoring privacy controls. The survey, conducted by MyMemory, asked 1,781 British Facebook users ... about photographs they had posted or those in which they had been "tagged". While the sample size isn't what most scientists would consider large, the results are somewhat interesting. An astounding 76 per cent of all photos in the study showed those in the picture were drinking alcohol or had recently consumed alcoholic beverages. Scandalous ... (view more)

Facebook appears to be on the verge of suing Mark Zuckerberg because he likes the site too much. But this is no ordinary like -- and no ordinary Zuckerberg. The man in question is not the billionaire founder of Facebook, but rather an Israeli man ... who's trying an unusual tactic to highlight his side of a legal battle. He's an Israeli online businessman who was formerly known as Rotem Guez, but has now legally changed his name to Mark Zuckerberg (which is the exact same name of the CEO of Facebook). He's even taken out a passport in the new name. The dispute involves a company owned by the ... (view more)

Last year, the FCC announced it would be making plans to update and allow text messages, pictures, and streaming video for 911 emergencies via cell phones . Now, a new technology will allow Facebook users a way to discuss their problems with a ... professional via live chat. Facebook has recently announced a partnership with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The program will give social networking users who experience clinical depression a new way to find help quickly and privately. Friends can Report to Facebook Team If a suicidal memo is left on a Facebook wall, for example, friends ... (view more)

Mozilla's Firefox is in the news this week and not for any positive reasons. The web browser slipped to third in the market behind Google's Chrome, and there's speculation a major financial backer of the browser may pull out. If so, that could be ... the end of the popular web browser. News on market share comes from Statcounter, which tracks visitors to about three million websites and collates this data to provide credible estimates of online usage. Google Chrome Usage Up 550% in 2 Years The company's figures for November show that Google's Chrome is used by 25.69 per cent of people worldwide ( ... (view more)

It might already be one of the most popular websites on the Internet, but that hasn't stopped YouTube from trying to improve its appeal with a major redesign. YouTube management calls the update a "fresh coat of digital paint," though not everyone ... agrees it's a turn for the better. YouTube says on its blog that the new design is intended to make using the site a lot easier, from finding and following channels to recommending videos to friends and linking YouTube content with Google+ and Facebook accounts. For example, videos uploaded to YouTube can now automatically be seen on those social ... (view more)

In recent years online bullying has been a hot topic, with many teens and children reporting online bullying. In some cases, severe bullying has even pushed kids to suicide, garnering much attention from mainstream media. A new study, however, ... reveals that online bullying isn't as frequent as many fear. In fact, the report says it's less likely that kids will be bullied online than in real life. The study was conducted by the Pew Internet ... (view more)

Facebook has been criticized many times before for failing to protect the personal information of its hundreds of millions of users. But now the site faces a new challenge: explaining to users why their "News Feed" has been taken over by advertising ... for adult-mannered websites. As of late last week, Facebook users' home pages were bombarded with inappropriate photographs depicting extreme violence and supposed celebrities 'in the buff'. While situations like this are relatively rare, the scale of the recent attack has led Facebook to re-evaluate the safeguards it has in place. Facebook: ... (view more)

Facebook is reportedly on the verge of agreeing to a settlement with the federal government over claims it misled users regarding its privacy policies. The settlement wouldn't involve a formal admission of guilt, but would have lengthy consequences ... for the social networking company. The case, brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is based on allegations that Facebook does not always obtain a user's permission before changing the way it handles that user's personal data. Instead, Facebook simply applies the changes it wants on an opt-out basis, in effect asserting that it can apply ... (view more)

The complaint that Facebook prioritizes its own revenue targets above user security is hardly new. However, there is something fresh about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's recent attempt to distract users by pointing a finger at other tech companies ... -- most notably Microsoft, Google and Yahoo -- accusing them of being far less privacy conscious than Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg, the 27-year-old billionaire founder and CEO of Facebook, recently appeared on the Charlie Rose TV show to discuss his company's growth and, as usual, ongoing concerns with the way the site handles the personal information ... (view more)