5 Things You Should Know – Part 141

jazz

October 30, 2017

Here are 5 things you should know.

1. Many phones, including iPhones, save GPS data to picture files by default.

So if you take a picture at your home and send it to someone, you are potentially giving them your exact address without even knowing it. Many people may think that the location data they see when looking through their phone pictures are stored on their phone separately from the images themselves, but in reality, it’s stored in the actual image files as Exif metadata. Many phones have the option to turn off this feature, but keep in mind the photos you’ve taken before shutting it off still have the GPS data in them. There are also apps you can download to view and strip this data from individual photos.

2. Changing the direction of your ceiling fan can help reduce the cost of heating/cooling your living space.

Changing the direction of your ceiling fan in the summer and winter not only makes you feel comfortable, but it also allows you to adjust the thermostat and give your AC or heating unit a much-needed break.

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3. App developers are putting out updates so regularly so they stay on the top of charts, not to fix bugs that you probably didn’t even encounter.

4. If you pay with a credit card at Target, the company sells your in-store purchase history to advertisers.

Many people are unaware of how invasive Target’s privacy policy is and how it builds profiles across multiple platforms to sell your data to advertisers. Target attempts to link everything you buy in the store (including the Target pharmacy), anything you say on your various interweb accounts data for sale from 3rd parties on your age and income. This creates a rich dataset that can result in very deep targeting across the interwebs (and thus lots of revenue for Target).

For example, this woman mistakenly attributed the ads she saw after experiencing a burn (8th paragraph) to FB listening through her phone’s microphone, though the true source was likely the purchase she made at Target.

Source: Target’s own privacy policy. Here are some highlights:

We merge data collected from our own websites, demographic and other information regarding your likely commercial interests from third parties; and in-store transaction data.

We collect data that is publicly available. For example, the information you submit in a public forum (e.g., a blog, chat room, or social network) can be read, collected or used by us and others, and could be used to personalize your experience.

5. In the US, the name Yellow Pages, and the familiar “walking fingers” logo, are in the public domain and can be legally used by anyone.

This has been exploited to perpetuate a common scam against small business owners.

If you own a small business, you may receive in the mail what appears to be a form asking you to “verify” your company’s information for inclusion in the telephone directory. It has the “walking fingers’ logo and appears to be from the Yellow Pages. Even comes with a postage-paid envelope so you don’t need to pay for a stamp. Seems legit, right? Throw it in the trash.

The company that sends these forms usually has a name like “Yellow Pages United”, but has no relationship with the telephone company. Thus, they have nothing to do with your listing in the local yellow pages.

By returning the form, what you are agreeing to is to pay roughly $400 every six months to be included in a random online directory. The fees automatically renew and are supposedly a PITA to cancel.

The reason they can get away with this is that for some reason, AT&T never registered the name Yellow Pages, or the walking fingers logo, as trademarks in the U.S. Thus, they are in the public domain and can be freely used by anyone.

More reading: http://www.timeforcake.com/blog/post/yellow-pages-united-scam-alert/