May 2013 - isoc - Skunkworks Site

Fund for Internet Research Education (FIRE) Awards
by Paul M 15 May '13

15 May '13

AFRINIC is running an initiative that aims to encourage innovation in the African continent. More details can be found on http://fireafrica.org The deadline for submission on 31st May 2013. Here are the details of the Awards: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Dear Colleagues, >> >> Due to immense interest in the FIRE Programme Awards 2013, we are extending the deadline, again. We don’t want you to miss out, so here is your last opportunity to apply for the awards. >> >> The deadline for submission is now 31 May 2013! That gives you more than a month to apply. So get ready, and start applying. >> >> To join the select group of FIRE winners, you must apply for the 2013 Awards. The winner gets US$ 3,000. >> >> The Fund for Internet Research and Education (FIRE) is an initiative of AFRINIC, the regional Internet registry for Africa that aims to encourage innovation and find creative, accessible and acceptable solutions to Africa’s ICT challenges. >> >> Applications are open from 15 March 2013 to 31 May 2013. >> >> The FIRE Award will be given to initiatives “already completed or in their final implementation phase” and aligned to the funding categories and eligibility criteria 2013. There will be one winner for each category. >> >> Categories for 2013: >> >> Innovation on access provision: ICT access is a common issue in the African region, especially for services that require broadband connectivity. Innovative solutions offering low cost deployment, low power consumption and low maintenance that expanded fixed and mobile access to the Internet through new forms of technical and organisational arrangements as well as improved the quality of access based on issues of accessibility, disability and linguistic diversity. >> >> E-Development: The development, deployment and enhancement of content, applications and solutions to support timely and relevant information dissemination on a large scale using a range of network infrastructures through a variety of devices. >> >> Freedom of expression: Initiatives related to freedom of expression, freedom of association, privacy, security, consumer’s rights, new forms of intellectual property in the digital environment, and a wider range of issues related to Internet and human rights. >> >> In addition to the above categories, there will be a Community Choice Award category for the best social media campaign. The winner will be a project receiving the most number of votes from the community. >> >> For more information on the Award and application process, please contact: >> >> Vymala Thuron, fireprogram(a)afrinic.net and visit our website: www.fireafrica.org >> >> Visit our website: http://www.afrinic.net/en/library/news/903-fire-awards-deadline-extended-du… >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> [Version française] >> >> L’Award FIRE 2013 >> >> Chers Collègues, >> >> Vu l'intérêt suscitée par le Award du Programme FIRE 2013, AFRINIC a le plaisir de vous informer que la période de dépôt des candidatures est prolongée. >> >> Nous souhaiterions vous donner l'opportunité de remporter ce prestigieux prix, la date de soumission de vos projets est maintenant fixée au 31 mai 2013. >> >> Vous avez maintenant l'opportunite de soumettre votre candidature jusqu'au 31 mai 2013. N'attendez plus ! >> >> Vous contribuez à l’innovation des TIC en Afrique à travers vos projets? AFRINIC invite les organisations à soumettre des projets afin qu’ils soient considérés pour un Award de $ 3000. Rejoignez le groupe sélect des gagnants de l’Award FIRE maintenant. >> >> Les applications sont prolongées au 31 mai 2013. >> >> Les projets devront être déjà complétés ou en phase terminale, en ligne avec les catégories et critères d’éligibilités 2013. Un gagnant sera designe pour chaque categorie >> >> Catégories 2013: >> >> Innovation en matière d’accès: La problématique en matière d’accès est pertinente pour la région africaine plus spécifiquement pour la connectivite à haut débit. Des solutions peu coûteuses, à faible consommation énergétique et d’entretien facile sont requises afin d’étendre l’accès fixe et mobile à travers la mise en place de nouveaux dispositifs techniques et organisationnels ainsi qu’une amélioration de la qualité d’accès axée sur l’accessibilité, les difficultés d’accès et la diversité linguistique. >> >> E-Développement: Le développement, le déploiement et l’amélioration des contenus, d’applications et de solutions pour soutenir une diffusion opportune et pertinente de l’information à grande échelle à travers une large gamme d’infrastructures de réseaux et une variété de dispositifs. >> >> Liberté d’expression: Les initiatives liées à la liberté d’expression, à l’association, à la protection de la vie privée, à la sécurité, aux droits des consommateurs, aux nouvelles formes de propriété intellectuelle dans la sphère numérique ainsi qu’à un plus large éventail de questions liées à Internet et aux droits de la personne. >> >> De plus, un prix spécial est alloué à la meilleure campagne destinée aux réseaux sociaux suite à la sélection des gagnants par catégorie. Le gagnant sera celui qui recevra un maximum de votes de la communauté. >> >> Pour des renseignements additionnels veuillez contacter: >> >> Vymala Thuron, fireprogram(a)afrinic.net et visitez notre site web www.fireafrica.org >> >> Visitez notre site web: http://www.afrinic.net/en/library/news/903-fire-awards-deadline-extended-du… >> >> Regards/Cordialement,

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KIGF: 3rd Working Group Meeting
by Paul M 15 May '13

15 May '13

Dear Members, I apologise for this short notice. You are invited for the 3rd Kenya Internet Governance Forum (KIGF) working group meeting, which will be held this Friday 17th May from 5:30-7:00pm at Pete's Coffee Ground Floor, Bishop Magua Centre. The main agenda will to be discuss sponsorship opportunities for the event. See you this Friday! Kindest Regards, Paul Muchene

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Re: [ISOC_KE] [kictanet] KIGF 2013: Call for Topics
by meshack emakunat 14 May '13

14 May '13

Sorry but e-agriculture strategies and if they exist what are the contribution to the economic development and growth. ------------------------------ On Fri, May 10, 2013 12:05 AM PDT meshack emakunat wrote: > > > >If we can look at e-agriculture and its contribution to the economic growth and development then those in agribusiness field will benefit alot > >------------------------------ >On Thu, May 9, 2013 6:42 PM PDT Ali Hussein wrote: > >>Paul >> >>May be a good idea to start discussing the ideal regulatory environment for Ecommerce. >> >>Ali Hussein >>CEO | 3mice interactive media Ltd >>Principal | Telemedia Africa Ltd >> >>+254 713 601113 >> >>"The future belongs to him who knows how to wait." - Russian Proverb >> >>Sent from my iPad >> >>On May 10, 2013, at 4:03 AM, Victor Kapiyo <vkapiyo(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >> I think you can add devolution to the list, though it can be a cross-cutting issue across some of what's on the list already. >> >> We could look at the role of ICT - in facilitating citizen participation in governance; enhancing service delivery; business opportunities - are companies/professionals/public ready to engage? >> >> Victor >> >> Victor Kapiyo, LL.B >> >> ==================================================== >> “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude” Zig Ziglar >> >> >> On 6 May 2013 10:53, Paul M <paulitrix(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> As we resolved during the last Kenya Internet Governance Forum (KIGF), the Internet Society Kenya Chapter (ISOC KE) will be convening this year's KIGF. ISOC KE formed a working group to coordinate the planning and logistics of the same. The working group has slated the KIGF to be on the 26th July 2013 at the Strathmore University Business School. >> >> The working group sat for two meetings and identified Internet Governance issues pertinent to the Internet and ICT sector in Kenya. These issues are not exhaustive and we therefore invite input from the public to propose topics of interest to be discussed at the KIGF. The topics can be drawn from the main IGF themes or any issues that are of interest to Kenyans. >> >> Some of the topical areas proposed by the working group are: >> Electronic Voting >> CyberSecurity >> Social Media: >> Digital Migration >> Legal Issues: Intellectual Property Rights, Data protection bill, >> E-commerce >> E-governance >> ICT and Education >> Connectivity Strategies: Emphasis in connecting the Counties >> Universal Access: Universal Access Fund >> Smart Cities: Konza as a case study >> WCIT: Taking stock >> >> Please send your suggestions by replying to this email on or before Monday 13th May. >> >> >> Looking forward to your contributions. >> >> >> Kindest Regards, >> >> Paul Muchene >> Chair, KIGF Working Group >> >> _______________________________________________ >> isoc mailing list >> isoc(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/isoc >> >> _______________________________________________ >> isoc mailing list >> isoc(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/isoc > > >_______________________________________________ >kictanet mailing list >kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/memakunat%40yahoo.com > >The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. > >KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

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Fwd: [Chapter-delegates] NEWS RELEASE: Africa Domain Name System Forum to be held in Durban, South Africa, 12-13 July 2013
by Barrack Otieno 14 May '13

14 May '13

Listers, FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <cover(a)isoc.org> Date: Mon, May 13, 2013 at 7:28 PM Subject: [Chapter-delegates] NEWS RELEASE: Africa Domain Name System Forum to be held in Durban, South Africa, 12-13 July 2013 To: chapter-delegates(a)elists.isoc.org Africa Domain Name System Forum to be held in Durban, South Africa, 12-13 July 2013 Co-organized by the Internet Society, AfTLD, and ICANN Forum will bring together registries, registrars, experts and policy makers to foster cross-border collaboration [Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland, 13 May 2013] – The Africa Domain Name System (DNS) Forum will be held on 12 - 13 July 2013 in Durban, South Africa. The event aims to establish a platform for the DNS community across Africa and to advance the domain name industry and domain name registrations on the continent. Over the years, the Internet Society, AfTLD, and ICANN have supported the continued development and growth of Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) in Africa through capacity building and technical support. Despite the support, the growth and sustainability of African ccTLDs and adoption of new technologies remains very low as compared to other regions of the world. To identify the bottlenecks that are keeping the industry from growing and the actions that can catalyze its growth, the three organizations determined the need for a forum to discuss these regional DNS issues. The DNS Forum will foster cross-border collaboration between registries, registrars, registrants, DNS experts, Government representatives, and policy makers. Topics covered during the 1 ½ day event include trends, opportunities, and challenges of the DNS industry; strategies for registries and registrars; legal issues with cross-border domain registrations; ways Governments can support domain name growth; and benefits of standardizing accreditation to attract more cross-border registrars and registrations. “The Internet Society’s African Regional Bureau has been working to strengthen the ccTLDs in Africa by improving sustainability, encouraging the implementation of automation solutions at ccTLDs, and promoting the use of technology such as DNSSEC at registries,” said Dawit Bekele, Internet Society Regional Bureau Director for Africa. “We are pleased to join together with AfTLD and ICANN to host this multi-stakeholder forum where participants can share experiences, gain new insights, and establish new business relationships with organizations from within and outside the continent. Such a forum is important to bring growth in the African domain name industry.” Pierre S. Dandjinou, ICANN Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement for Africa, commented, “ICANN is partnering with other players in the region to implement its Africa strategy, which was developed in 2012 by the African community. Thus, this DNS Forum in Durban, as a partnership between AfTLD and the Internet Society and as a pre-conference event to the ICANN meeting, is another milestone that builds on the MIGworks event in Addis in March 2013, which sought to pave the way for the development of the DNS industry in Africa and to empower the African community for an increased accreditation of registrars from the continent. I believe the new gTLD program will help grow this industry on a global and regional level, and we hope that African business players can be part of this growing industry as much as they can. ICANN will present in this event several programs to support and incubate new business players in Africa to benefit out of the growing potential in this continent.” “By working with and building on our partnerships in running the DNS Forum, AfTLD’s objective is to build on our thriving capacity building activities for ccTLDs in Africa so as to improve the DNS in Africa and the sustainability of ccTLDs,” said Dr. Paulos Nyirenda, President of AfTLD. “The DNS Forum will present a great opportunity for players in the domain industry to learn and to foster new and established relationships, including those among ccTLDs, registries, registrars, operators, policy makers and end users.” For more information and to register for the Africa DNS Forum, visit: http://aftld.org/afdnsforum -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/ -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/

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Re: [ISOC_KE] [kictanet] KIGF 2013: Call for Topics
by meshack emakunat 10 May '13

10 May '13

If we can look at e-agriculture and its contribution to the economic growth and development then those in agribusiness field will benefit alot ------------------------------ On Thu, May 9, 2013 6:42 PM PDT Ali Hussein wrote: >Paul > >May be a good idea to start discussing the ideal regulatory environment for Ecommerce. > >Ali Hussein >CEO | 3mice interactive media Ltd >Principal | Telemedia Africa Ltd > >+254 713 601113 > >"The future belongs to him who knows how to wait." - Russian Proverb > >Sent from my iPad > >On May 10, 2013, at 4:03 AM, Victor Kapiyo <vkapiyo(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> I think you can add devolution to the list, though it can be a cross-cutting issue across some of what's on the list already. >> >> We could look at the role of ICT - in facilitating citizen participation in governance; enhancing service delivery; business opportunities - are companies/professionals/public ready to engage? >> >> Victor >> >> Victor Kapiyo, LL.B >> >> ==================================================== >> “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude” Zig Ziglar >> >> >> On 6 May 2013 10:53, Paul M <paulitrix(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> As we resolved during the last Kenya Internet Governance Forum (KIGF), the Internet Society Kenya Chapter (ISOC KE) will be convening this year's KIGF. ISOC KE formed a working group to coordinate the planning and logistics of the same. The working group has slated the KIGF to be on the 26th July 2013 at the Strathmore University Business School. >> >> The working group sat for two meetings and identified Internet Governance issues pertinent to the Internet and ICT sector in Kenya. These issues are not exhaustive and we therefore invite input from the public to propose topics of interest to be discussed at the KIGF. The topics can be drawn from the main IGF themes or any issues that are of interest to Kenyans. >> >> Some of the topical areas proposed by the working group are: >> Electronic Voting >> CyberSecurity >> Social Media: >> Digital Migration >> Legal Issues: Intellectual Property Rights, Data protection bill, >> E-commerce >> E-governance >> ICT and Education >> Connectivity Strategies: Emphasis in connecting the Counties >> Universal Access: Universal Access Fund >> Smart Cities: Konza as a case study >> WCIT: Taking stock >> >> Please send your suggestions by replying to this email on or before Monday 13th May. >> >> >> Looking forward to your contributions. >> >> >> Kindest Regards, >> >> Paul Muchene >> Chair, KIGF Working Group >> >> _______________________________________________ >> isoc mailing list >> isoc(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/isoc >> >> _______________________________________________ >> isoc mailing list >> isoc(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/isoc

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KIGF 2013: Call for Topics
by Paul M 10 May '13

10 May '13

As we resolved during the last Kenya Internet Governance Forum (KIGF), the Internet Society Kenya Chapter (ISOC KE) will be convening this year's KIGF. ISOC KE formed a working group to coordinate the planning and logistics of the same. The working group has slated the KIGF to be on the 26th July 2013 at the Strathmore University Business School. The working group sat for two meetings and identified Internet Governance issues pertinent to the Internet and ICT sector in Kenya. These issues are not exhaustive and we therefore invite input from the public to propose topics of interest to be discussed at the KIGF. The topics can be drawn from the main IGF themes or any issues that are of interest to Kenyans. Some of the topical areas proposed by the working group are: Electronic Voting CyberSecurity Social Media: Digital Migration Legal Issues: Intellectual Property Rights, Data protection bill, E-commerce E-governance ICT and Education Connectivity Strategies: Emphasis in connecting the Counties Universal Access: Universal Access Fund Smart Cities: Konza as a case study WCIT: Taking stock Please send your suggestions by replying to this email on or before Monday 13th May. Looking forward to your contributions. Kindest Regards, Paul Muchene Chair, KIGF Working Group

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Fwd: [Chapter-delegates] NEWS RELEASE: New Study from Internet Society and Analysys Mason Examines Factors Hindering Development of Internet Access in Africa
by Barrack Otieno 08 May '13

08 May '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <cover(a)isoc.org> Date: Wed, May 8, 2013 at 6:23 PM Subject: [Chapter-delegates] NEWS RELEASE: New Study from Internet Society and Analysys Mason Examines Factors Hindering Development of Internet Access in Africa To: chapter-delegates(a)elists.isoc.org New Study from Internet Society and Analysys Mason Examines Factors Hindering Development of Internet Access in Africa Research explores impact of telecom infrastructure investments and corresponding improvements to Internet access and service [Washington, D.C. and Geneva, Switzerland – 08 May 2013] – The Internet Society today published a new study, ‘Lifting barriers to Internet development in Africa: suggestions for improving connectivity,’ which examines the factors hindering Internet development in Africa and explores possible remedies. The research, conducted by Analysys Mason and commissioned by the Internet Society, found that despite investments resulting in significant improvements to Africa’s telecom infrastructure in the past five years, these investments have in some cases not translated into lowered prices or increased quality of services for Internet users. These investments have focused on undersea cable to improve international connectivity, and terrestrial fibre networks between countries. The study shows that in many countries the development of Internet access is hampered by constraints on terrestrial connectivity between the submarine cables, the Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), last mile access infrastructures, and Internet Service Providers that deliver access to end-users in Africa. The report sets forth an Internet development approach focused on removing regulatory roadblocks and promoting Internet-specific investments, supported by a high-level policy environment to result in greater Internet availability and empowerment in Africa. "This study is significant as it identifies some of the last barriers for the development of Internet infrastructure in Africa,” noted Dawit Bekele, Regional Bureau Director for Africa, Internet Society. “It pinpoints the issues that all stakeholders and more particularly African governments and telecommunication regulators need to address to ensure that the massive infrastructural development that we have seen in Africa in the last few years results in bringing Internet to all Africans at an affordable price." Jane Coffin, Director for Development Strategy at the Internet Society, added, “We hope that this study will spark a national and regional debate in Africa that impacts future Internet development. There is so much that stakeholders can do to close infrastructure gaps by working together through creative public-private partnerships and by taking bold steps to allow change to happen by breaking down traditional barriers and allowing market entrants greater ease in network deployment.” “For us, the variation between regions in retail price of Internet traffic was revealing, with some ISPs offering access at USD 10 per gigabyte of traffic, and others charging up to ten times more than that. East Africa appears to offer best value, particularly for low-volume users who tend to have lower incomes,” commented one of the report’s authors, Robert Schumann. Michael Kende, Partner at Analysys Mason, noted that in many countries, the regulatory reform of the telecoms sector is not yet complete. “African Internet ecosystems grow strongest when a wide range of operators can offer service and exchange traffic, but in many countries regulatory and practical barriers remain to private investment.” This new report follows an Analysys Mason study commissioned by the Internet Society on the impact of IXPs in Kenya and Nigeria, which found that IXPs improve the quality of Internet services and save African operators millions of dollars annually in connectivity fees. The IXP study shows that a key factor in the success of IXPs is the availability of low-cost, widely-accessible connectivity, both domestically and across borders and oceans, and the study was commissioned to help address those gaps. The study is available for download: www.internetsociety.org/liftingbarriers _______________________________________________ As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/

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Do you want to become a dotAfrica?
by Grace Githaiga 07 May '13

07 May '13

Visit: http://lf.dnservices.co.za/a1/pioneer.php

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ICANN 48 Fellowship Round is Now Open
by Paul M 07 May '13

07 May '13

The application round for to ICANN fellowship to the Buenos Aires meeting is currently open. Application round closes on June 14th. Go to http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-01may13-en.htm and apply.

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Re: [ISOC_KE] Sio Facebookers Pekee I guess: How Facebook Exploits Your Private Information - By Bernard Marr
by WANGARI KABIRU 07 May '13

07 May '13

Happy Tuesday, Is there something like a right to services even if I do not want to accept your terms and conditions? I guess this may be an exciting open discussion by members and there's probably a discussion area that Paul's Team may include for KIGF. Lovely day. Regards/Wangari --- Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - "Being of the Light, We are Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on Earth". --- On Tue, 7/5/13, Kelvin Githira <kgithira(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Kelvin Githira <kgithira(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: Sio Facebookers Pekee I guess: How Facebook Exploits Your Private Information - By Bernard Marr To: "Liz Orembo" <lizorembo(a)gmail.com> Cc: "WANGARI KABIRU" <wangarikabiru(a)yahoo.co.uk>, "kefa.rabah" <kefa.rabah(a)gmail.com>, "dottocomp" <dottocomp(a)yahoo.com>, "otieno.barrack" <otieno.barrack(a)gmail.com>, "Richard Otieno" <richard.otieno(a)gmail.com>, "Eng. Martin Obuya" <eng.mko(a)gmx.com>, "Charles Oloo" <oloo6382(a)gmail.com>, "Judy Okite" <judyokite(a)gmail.com>, "Elizabeth Magu" <magubetty(a)gmail.com> Date: Tuesday, 7 May, 2013, 10:28 Hi all, This is eploitation, however i wonder to ask, how many of us take time to read the terms and conditions on "free " things ? Afterall we tend to think we have nuthing to loose. I think thats where we go wrong. Allow me to correct you liz, cloud services are provided with strict data storage and back up regulations. However lack of intet governent agrerments on data privacy has left loop holes for such providers to use your data. In kenya most people will " feel safer " backing up data in developed countries, however we forget in places like the US as much as there are data privacy laws to protect you. The investigative arm of the goverment always has an upper hand if at all they would want to " peruse" on that information. My advice is give as much less info you can online. Browse safe, stay safe Regards,Kev On May 7, 2013, at 2:18 AM, Liz Orembo <lizorembo(a)gmail.com> wrote: Hi everyone, I came across this article on Sunday and I wasn't surprised. Facebook is just one of the sites that uses their users' info. We also have sites that offer cloud services and they too can give your stuff to a third party for other purposes. We can't trust on laws to govern this (if there is any) maybe we need a technology ( architecture ) approach. best regards. On May 2, 2013 4:41 PM, "WANGARI KABIRU" <wangarikabiru(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: Haya facebookers... Not to worry, this is also what they do with your Supermarket Loyalty card! They get paid twice for your loyalty! By your purchase and by all the research companies who use the data & suppliers. Please refer to the terms and conditions... Well you also get paid with Loyalty points! So everyone goes home happy I guess... What catches me is the tracking bit of all the sites that one gets to visit. Means its like signing up for a specific bank ATM card then they use that to track all the other bank accounts so they can tell all the places you transact, balances etc. That's stretching this relationship a bit too far. Where does this cut-off come in? Is there any chance that one may decline and still access the organisation's services? Lovely evening. Regards/Wangari --- Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - "Being of the Light, We are Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on Earth". --- On Thu, 2/5/13, Eng. Martin Obuya <eng.mko(a)gmx.com> wrote: From: Eng. Martin Obuya <eng.mko(a)gmx.com> Subject: How Facebook Exploits Your Private Information - By Bernard Marr To: "otieno.barrack" <otieno.barrack(a)gmail.com>, "Charles Oloo" <oloo6382(a)gmail.com>, "wangarikabiru" <wangarikabiru(a)yahoo.co.uk>, "Elizabeth Magu" <magubetty(a)gmail.com>, "kgithira" <kgithira(a)gmail.com>, "Richard Otieno" <richard.otieno(a)gmail.com>, "Judy Okite" <judyokite(a)gmail.com>, "lizorembo" <lizorembo(a)gmail.com>, "dottocomp" <dottocomp(a)yahoo.com>, "kefa.rabah" <kefa.rabah(a)gmail.com> Date: Thursday, 2 May, 2013, 14:19 TeamYou have willingly told Facebook who your friends are, what your hobbies are, how old you are, where you live and whether you are in a relationship or not. What's more, Facebook knows what you like and dislike, what your interests are, what your favourite movies and songs are - simply from the updates you share and the 'like' buttons you press. The big question is: are you happy for Facebook to exploit what they know about you? The entire Facebook business model is based on the effective use of your data. Here is the deal: they give you a free social media platform to use and in turn sell advertising and insights based on what they learn about you. Today, Facebook has massive capabilities to collect, store and analyse data - what we call 'big data analytics'. This allows Facebook to sell very targeted advertising - e.g. 'someone living in the Mid-town district of Manhattan, who is single and who is interested in baseball and likes pizza'. This kind of knowledge is a marketeer's dream! But Facebook goes beyond simply analysing and 'mining' the user profile data you have shared and the up-dates you have written. USA Today revealed how Facebook tracks you across the Web. Basically, when you create an account, Facebook inserts a 'tracking cookie' into your Web browser that allows Facebook to track each website you are visiting. This means when you are logged into Facebook and then browse the web (completely separately from your Facebook activities) Facebook knows what sites you are visiting. There's more: Cnet reports that whenever you click a Facebook 'like' button on any website, your preference is not only shared with your friends and on your profile, but data about your interests is sent back to Facebook's servers - ready to be provided or sold to their advertising partners. What's more, personal data is exchanged when you use apps like FarmVille or Words with Friends via Facebook. It has even been reported that signing up for these apps will give those companies who created the apps access to your personal data - even details you specifically told Facebook to keep private. One more: Facebook has also invested in image processing and 'face recognition' capabilities, that basically allow Facebook to track you - because it knows what you and your friends look like from the photos you have shared. It can now search the Internet and all other Facebook profiles to find pictures of you and your friends. Face recognition allows Facebook to make 'tag suggestions' for people on photos you have uploaded but it is mind boggling what else they could do with technology like that. Just imagine how Facebook could use computer algorythms to track your body shape. They could analyse your latest beach shots you have shared and compare them with older ones to detect that you have put on some weight. It could then sell this information to a slimming club in your area who can place an ad on your facebook page. Scary? Here are my questions: Are you comfortable with Facebook using your data? Maybe you see it as a step forward where Facebook can find your long-lost friends and you like the fact that Facebook can recommend relevant products and services. Or does this all feel a little too much like 'Big Brother is watching you'? Do you see it as an intrusion of your privacy and does it scare you that Facebook knows everything about you and could exploit and sell what it knows? Does this make Facebook too powerful? What do you think? Share your views... Here are ways to better protect your privacy: You can tighten your settings security settings on your Facebook account. Here is a great list of the top ten must-know security settings for Facebook. You can download software to block all tracking activities of your web searches or make any tracking attempts visible. Two tools to look at are Ghostery andDoNotTrackMe You can use the 'InPrivate' mode of Internet Explorer, the 'incognito' browsing when you use Google's Chrome or 'private browsing' option in Safari. This will disable the browsers to store information about your web searches. You have to read the terms and conditions of any apps you download and use. You can check the privacy scores of any current Facebook apps using tools like PrivacyFix Eng. Martin Obuya Skype: martinkingobuya Twitter: obuyakingmartin Email: eng.mko(a)gmx.com Cel: +254 725519870 / 733519870

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