If you have been online in January, you have probably seen a Spotify Wrapped against your will. Candy-coloured and set to a nondescript background beat, the Wrapped roundup satisfies our collective desire for life stats while spawning countless imitations. One of these, as I discovered recently while knee-deep in my[Read More…]
Tag: privacy
Interdisciplinary panel discussed personal privacy and public health during COVID-19
The McGill Research Group on Health and Law (RGHL) held an interdisciplinary panel on Jan. 13 titled “New or normal? Privacy, Public Health and the Pandemic.” Moderated by Faculty of Law associate professor Lara Khoury, the three panellists, Dr. Anne Andermann, Ignacio Cofone, and Dr. Khaled El Emam, discussed the[Read More…]
Mapping the types and causes of cancer
Cancer is a family of related diseases caused by the uncontrolled division of cells known as a tumour. The Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes, a six-year project comprising the work of more than 1,300 researchers in 37 countries, is the largest, most in-depth analysis of cancer genomes to date. It[Read More…]
Alexa, tell me what you’re thinking
Amazon announced its vision for home assistant device Alexa to play a more active role as a personal assistant in November. In interviews with The McGill Tribune, Will Hamilton and Jackie Cheung, professors in McGill’s Department of Computer Science, outlined the basics of the technology behind voice-controlled home assistants like the[Read More…]
Unsolicited phone call elicits concern from students about patient privacy
Social media posts made by a McGill student about the Student Wellness Hub sparked criticism about the Hub’s accessibility. Charlie Baranski, U3 Arts, tweeted on Nov. 15 about the Hub rescheduling a therapy appointment which he made over 80 days prior. Two hours later, he received an unsolicited phone call[Read More…]
Living in a high-tech sci-tech world
The McGill Office for Science and Society hosted the 2018 Trottier Public Science Symposium on Oct. 29 and 30, where academics discussed information technology and its implications for humanity. Human history is punctuated with moments which completely redefined technology, the latest being the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Beginning during World War[Read More…]
OpenMedia McGill equips students with encryption tools
In a rapidly evolving world where people’s information is becoming more accessible and privacy is quickly eroding, anti-surveillance tools are increasing in popularity. To overcome a lack of privacy, OpenMedia McGill, in partnership with HackMcGill, acquainted students with anti-surveillance tools, like Tor and Signal, in a workshop on March 16.[Read More…]
Using Tor for anonymous internet browsing
Commonly known as the “onion router,” Tor Project is a free software that allows users to browse the Internet anonymously. By defending against traffic analysis—a type of Internet surveillance—Tor aims to protect its users’ privacy and anonymity on the web. Tor works by creating a distributed, anonymous network. “The idea[Read More…]
MTL Blog’s repurposing of Instagram content highlights grey area of control on social media
MTL Blog is a normally benign clickbait website known for publishing articles such as “The Whole Foods Market Close to Montreal You Have To Road Trip To ASAP.” Recently, however, the blog moved away from think pieces on snow and poutine, and engaged in truly tasteless journalism. Two of the pieces[Read More…]
How to deal with threats to your computer and private information
On March 21, Concordia University issued a statement warning students and faculty that keylogger devices had been found on university computers. “These keylogger devices can capture personal data such as login information and passwords (for example, passwords associated with your Concordia netname) by tracking the keystrokes used at a workstation,”[Read More…]
