There is an expectation that the role of social media in big data and analytics will grow and broaden. Given that there will be new data sources, more organizations will use these in order to generate their transformations. After all of this has been done, there will be more considerable benefits gotten out of social networking. The growth in the number of organizations using the social media command center in 2011 was remarkable. The number is expected to grow even more in the coming year. The familiar use of marketing services agencies is slowly replaced by the more advanced, and more effective use of social media.

There are also big expectations on the issue of security in 2012. Organizations have started the extensive use of mobile devices in data management, which increases security risks. Given this scenario, analysts say that organizations have to learn to compromise with technology. They have to expect data breaches to happen anytime, and corporate networks have to be always prepared for any form of malicious attack that may be brought about by such breaches. With the increasing number of employee-owned devices comes the increase in the number of data leakage points.

Through technology, corporate information is made more accessible from anywhere. Mobile devices are extensively used by employees who have access to such data. Nowadays, the personal computer is being used as an additional major corporate tool. It has also given way to “personal cloud” that uses mobile and web applications. Everyone expects that new and bigger happenings will take place in the world of IT in 2012.

Equipped with Silk as its browser, the product is a full-color, 8GB, 7-inch multi-touch tablet. Among its new features are faster surfing speeds and increased battery life, which are probably its major advantages. Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud or EC2 will be used to route all web connections from the Kindle Fire to the web page. This process is relatively new compared with what is now available on the market. From the user’s end, “everything” between him and the internet passes through Amazon’s EC2.

Privacy concerns arose when people came to know that their privacy will again be exposed to risks. In one of his articles, a blogger wrote that all of the user’s web surfing habits will pass through Amazon’s EC2. He added that there is no doubt Amazon will have the opportunity to follow all of the user’s online activities. Amazon, in its Terms and Conditions for using Silk, declared that URLs and certain identifiers will stay in its server for 30 days.

Data mining possibilities were again mentioned to be another risk that users will face. Every activity performed by Fire users could be captured and controlled by Amazon. Image that every page that users visit, every link that they follow, every click that they make, is known to Amazon. If users did not receive Facebook’s Timeline well, how could they “accept” this one, which is pretty much the same as Timeline? These were only some of the concerns that users have brought up in anticipation of the product’s impact.

Amazon emphasized that Kindle Fire owners can use Silk and have the choice of not using EC2. If users want more privacy, the technology will still work for them, but only at slower speeds. This means that Amazon gives the users the freedom to decide. Actually, no one can have total online privacy today. There are many products other than the Fire device that pose privacy risks. It is up to the user to decide how far he or she will let go of his or her privacy limits.

Social networking is one site where people could plainly give out their personal information. Facebook for instance has about 500 million users around the globe. This number of users has at least their basic private information open to practically anyone else online. All these data are in the custody of the networking business. These same data are what the government trying to defend in line with privacy laws.

As mentioned before, many internet users have become very careless in uploading information. With technology on the go, the government desires to put added control over data selling. Many government officials support the planned enhancement of privacy rights protection.

On the other hand, Facebook also has taken the test to redesign its strategies in the US. It has accepted the stand of the government leaning towards a stricter discharge of privacy laws. For this, the company has taken a stride ahead of the rest of its counterparts like Twitter, Zynga and LinkedIn.

Lobbying has become the most appropriate approach. Facebook has strategized to hire added employees who are specialists at public policies. Certainly, it is up to looking for some negotiation between the government’s project and the company’s objectives. To remember, government in particular wants to beef-up legislations to protect online users. These would include users’ identities, personal info, and online habits. In addition, policies will also be passed regarding the tracking, gathering and sale of any of this shared information.

There is an apparent hint that the government would launch “do not track” legislation. Senator Richard Blumenthal opts for policies that would oblige sites to obtain specific consent to track and sell data. The same stand is taken by Rep. Edward Markey, but centers more on protecting online activities and data collecting and profiling.

The brighter side of the matter is that both Facebook and government have the same viewpoint when comes to privacy protection. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg consents that people should be guaranteed of their privacy. Similarly, users have to be convinced that they have full control over the data that they submit. These are the same objectives as that of the planned legislation enhancements by the government.

More or less, there is likelihood that new regulatory actions would be implemented before long. This would be great news not only for Facebook but for other groups as well. If ever, these new policies would advantage both the users and companies. On one hand, users could continue to benefit from the fruits of technology. On the other, companies could make use of personal data but still keeping the privacy of millions of their clients.

Infographic byWordStream Internet Marketing

Take Control of Your Internet Privacy

Here are  3 simple steps to control your privacy on the Internet:

1. Never post personal information on the Internet.  Once information is on the web, it can be copied and shared without your permission.  Once posted, you’ve lost control over where it can appear.  What may seem harmless can lead to the wrong people having your information.
2. Use an anonymous proxy to hide your IP address.  Your IP address is one identifier that can lead back to you.  By hiding it you can throw would be stalkers off your trail.
3. Clear your cookies.  While normally cookies are not harmful, they do provide information back to websites you visit about your habits on their website.  This may or may not be something you care about.  It depends on the websites you visit.

With blogging becoming such a popular and widely utilized pastime, people are beginning to see the security issues it represents. First of all, there is the possibility of someone tracking the blogger from his or her page, and maybe even posing as a friend (which isn’t hard to do online) to arrange a real life encounter. There is also the simple possibly that the blogger is just putting too much information out there. While they may talk about other things, blogs are often centered around friends and their activities together. Oftentimes you will see a blog that lucidly describes the place they are discussing, (sometimes even an address…) people involved in the event, and usually a picture attached of the person and their friends. This is everything and more than a criminal needs to find this person and rob, kidnap, or steal from them.

This new awareness of blog safety brought about the anonymous movement. People realized that the root of their problems and the biggest danger in their blogging lives is that they were being tracked and identified in real life. These blogs are often public too; imagine if a boss or potential employer were to view someone’s blog and turn them away from the job! The reverse of this happened a little while ago; a woman who constantly blogged about her disdain for a local politician and his methods was anonymous online. After some time and after having built a strong fan base, she decided to go public, and posted her name, a brief bio, and a picture of herself. Her boss, being an avid supporter of the ousted politician, fired her and forbid her from coming back to her job. She is now blacklisted from many employers in her area, for fear of being guilty by association.

Use an anonymous proxy to stay anonymous online. This is the best and most powerful way to do so. High bit encryption services will protect your identity, and a changed IP address will ensure you safe and anonymous browsing; and the avoidance of any identity-based privacy issues.

Germans and Germany in general are very cognizant about what goes up on the Internet, as they are often haunted by constant reminding of the Holocaust and the stigmas attached to it. Lately the German population has become suspect of the U.S. company FaceBook. They are convinced that FaceBook is completely disregarding their privacy rights and not securing all of their information.

The Germans have banded together to send MySpace, FaceBook, Xing, and other social networking sites complaints about their lack of protecting their information. They accused these companies of sharing their details, browsing histories, and even details off of their private pages with third party companies. The sites would share this information with online advertisers and other solicitation agencies for a cut of their profits. The people afre outraged at this, and feel that their privacy is being compromised. They also complain that the terms of service agreements that are mandatory to accept on most every site force them to give up many of their privacy rights and other protections they enjoy as citizens. They argue that the change in the status quo should only allow individuals to be able to control what is released, and that possibly they offer incentives for releasing some information.

The people say that if the companies don’t comply with their complaints that they will take them to court. Grassroots movements have begun to boycott the services, and try and put them out of business, or at least make a statement.

The Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue is what they organization has called themselves, and they demand that the people hold all jurisdiction of who knows their data. They are almost eighty organizations strong currently.

They also argue that if a user cancels their subscription or profile with the service, that they permanently delete all information on the user, and not keep any of it surreptitiously  in a hidden data base.

Be wary when signing up for these social networking sites, who knows what rights you are giving up. Always read your terms of service before you blindly click accept too, as they know nobody actually reads these and will try and stick things in them small print. Be careful about what you put on your profile as well, because who knows who will be reading it and who might use some of your information for bad reasons.

If you wish to stay safe and anonymous online, try and avoid posting any personal information on these sites and be careful about what you are getting yourself into when you sign up. It may seem like a harmless communication site, but criminals know that is where clueless Internet goers flock.