Privacy Musings

About this blog

Have you wondered if your phone is listening to you? Do you worry that you may be watched through your laptop or phone camera? Do you worry about how much information is collected about you and your family by companies and social networks? Do you worry about what rights you are giving up every time you agree to the terms and conditions of a new product or service you sign up for?

In this blog, we highlight some of the work done by our research team that studies the behaviors of common connected devices as well as privacy issues that affect the connected home. We will share our findings, our thoughts, highlight policy issues that affect all of us and try to provide you with as much information as we can in order to help you make conscious online privacy and security decisions for your family.

We hope to educate, build awareness and hopefully, even entertain you with our musings on the state of online privacy and security with this blog.

That uneasy feeling … like you are being watched!
Infographic of how we have lost control of our personal data
Is there a link between our online privacy and the 4th Amendment? Will legislation and fines be able to assure us a more private and secure internet experience? What are the lessons of history? The need to take control by ourselves is now more than ever before.
4 minutes
March 10, 2023
Honey, what is our monthly Prime Vulnerability Moment bill?
Do we pay different prices for products and services based on what data is collected about us? Could we be excluded or discriminated against as a result of the data that our apps collect about us? What are the real, tangible costs to our wallet as a result of companies collecting data about us thousands of times each day?
3 mins
September 5, 2022
Connected and unprotected devices, apps - what can go wrong?
Infographic depicting some of the key threats to online privacy and security due to connected devices in the home
We have a connected home. How often do we pause to think what is the Attack Surface of your connected home to someone with malicious intent? Homes today have storage, compute and networking that rival a small enterprise from 20 years back. So, don't we need to think about the online security and privacy risk that comes with it?
3 min read
March 3, 2022
A September's Tale of (non) Privacy
Bubble chart of domains accessed by home
What really happens in the connected home? Who is listening to us? Who is collecting information about us? Where is information being shared? Are devices and the websites we access communicating with known violators of our privacy?
3 minute read
January 13, 2022
"Mom, Dad, who is our family's Chief Privacy Officer?"
Picture of the cover of law magazine
How aware do we need to be about our online privacy? How much information is being collected about us daily? How many companies get access to our information every day? How do we, as Americans, take action and has there been precedent on similar issues?
3 minute read
January 13, 2022
I agree to your terms of service and privacy policy
Bar chart of number and types of companies ISP shares data with
How often do you click 'I agree' to 'Terms and Conditions' or 'Privacy Policy' on an app or website? Do you wonder what happens afterwards? Do you worry about what information you reveal to these companies and what they do with the information?
3 minute read
January 13, 2022