The Cocoon Blog
The Internet as it should be: private, secure and virus free

Last year Internet activist Eli Pariser spoke at TED about how popular search engines like Google uses data it collects on what we click and when we click it. What if you were curious about how bombs are made or about how terrorists operate? Could the information that you search for today cause Big Brother to kick you in the head tomorrow?

Maine State Rep, Diane Russel recently wrote at The Huffington Post that with the advent of social media we are watching our privacy rights disappear at a faster clip.

 The monitoring, tracking and even surveillance is so ubiquitous that most people don’t even realize it is happening. If they do, there are few solutions being presented, and it truly begs the question, “What can I do about it?” –Maine State Rep, Diane Russell

Do you ever wonder how much information you may unknowingly give away on the web? With the Mozilla collusion browser plugin you can view a digital map of where you have browsed and who is tracking you. If you are as shocked by the results as I was –  Time Magazine has eight great ideas for protecting your privacy online.

The Cocoon Team!

There is an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) today about how Google and Apple collect and store information from personal computers and mobile devices. Apple allegedly gathers information from Macs that are connected to WiFi networks while Google collects information from WiFi connected computers that use the Google Chrome browser (or the Google toolbar for Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.)

The WSJ states that in most cases the companies request user permission prior to gathering information about users’ wireless networks and nearby networks. It is unclear what the term “most cases” actually means.

Both companies use computer-location data to build highly precise databases of Wi-Fi networks, which they use, in turn, to locate phones and computers attached to those networks.

Purportedly, all of this high-tech surveillance can also be used to enhance the user experience when you visit places like Google Maps. Though there may be an entire generation of users who find targeted marketing appropriate for their lifestyle, there is also a generation that feels inundated by the complexity of it all…

For the generation that prefers privacy over targeted marketing, there is Cocoon.