Review of Little Brother Privacy software

September 15th, 2009

Well I read through Little Brother Privacy’s website and tried it out, and I’ve concluded that this program is the real deal. I downloaded the program and put it through all the motions, and I have been very impressed with it. To sum it up, the program works beautifully. There are two main functions to the program, the scanning function, and the real-time monitor. For ease of reading I have broken up my review into sections for each major element of the program.

Scanning function - To put it  simply, the scanning engine is awesome. It is incredibly fast, taking just a few seconds, and in that time it found over 200 objects on my system! One of the features I like the most is that it detects and removes Flash Cookies. The program removes all Flash Cookies, government or commercial, under the (correct) logic that anything other than a Flash object installing Flash Cookies should be considered malicious. After scanning the program allows you to view a report that breaks up intrusions by Browser Traces, Government Tracking Objects, and Hidden Flash Objects. The scanning engine does a fantastic job scanning and removing any installed government tracking object, or Flash Cookie from your system.

Real-time monitor – This is my favorite feature of the program, it runs in the background of your system and blocked any government tracking objects from installing on your system, before they can compromise your privacy. I tested it out by going to a seemingly harmless government website: The US Mint. The moment I accessed the site, the Little Brother Privacy icon in my system tray popped up a warning that said “Little Brother Privacy has BLOCKED an intrusion into your system!” That was pretty powerful for me, it’s like catching them in the act of trying to track your computer! The other nice thing about the real-time monitor is that it uses very little system resources. It only uses about 10 MB of RAM, and didn’t interfere with any of my other security and anti-virus programs.

Interface – The interface of Little Brother Privacy is very simple, clean, and easy to use. The controls and menu’s are intuitive and self-explanatory, you don’t have to be a computer expert to be able to work it. The program runs automatically when you turn on your computer, so you don’t have to worry about running anything, just install it and your good to go. The program sites quietly in your system tray, alerting you to any intrusions, and you can simply click the icon to bring up the options and preferences.

To sum things up, this is a great program. It is easy to use, efficient, effective, and I highly recommend it. For the peace of mind and security you get from the program, I think it is well worth it. You’ll be amazed to see how many times it pops up that it has blocked an intrusion. I found out that you don’t even have to visit a government web site to have these tracking objects installed on your computer. Even using a simple search engine like Google or Yahoo is enough to get them, and Little Brother Privacy protects you no matter what site you visit.

Check them out, over at Little Brother Privacy

Little Brother Privacy released – New program removes and blocks government tracking objects.

September 2nd, 2009

I just got word that a new program called Little Brother Privacy designed specifically to remove government tracking objects from your computer and block them from installing has been released. Sounds very promising! While I was browsing their site, I found out that this is an even bigger than I thought. Apparently the government is also exploiting Flash Cookies to hide on your computer! Not only do these thing install without you knowing it, they can re-install other tracking objects if you try to delete them! Check out Little Brother’s assessment here.

I am going to download the program and test it out, I will post a full review of it on this site shortly.

In the mean time, check out the site for yourself at Little Brother Privacy

Widespread public outcry against government web tracking plan!

August 15th, 2009

Well looks like word is getting out, and people are not happy about it! Yesterday all the major news outlets picked up on the story and there was a massive outcry against the government’s web tracking program. I don’t understand how they can just keep ramming this program through when people are clearly opposed to it?!

The article that caught everyone’s attention was from The Washington Post. Check it out here

The ACLU is rallying too, read their response here

You know that something big is going on when the conservative pundits are on the same side as the ACLU!

More details about technology to be employed in government web tracking program.

August 10th, 2009

The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) closed its feedback period of the plan and released more details of the technology that would be employed. Turns out they plan on using a three-tiered cookie system. Tier 1 is no big deal, its basically a single session tracking cookie, tier 2 gets a little more dicey, it will use multi-session technologies that can track users over multiple web sessions. Where I really start to get concerned is Tier 3. Tier 3 will employ multi-session persistant identifiers. This technology not only remembers user’s data when they visit a website, but it continues to collect information AFTER they have signed off.

This is where the big privacy concerns start to kick in. The capability of the Tier 3 tracking objects can track users across multiple websites, and record and report sensitive personal information. This is the technology that is capable of monitoring which websites you visit, reporting which blogs or forums you read, and even what you post online or send via email. This goes way beyond what is needed to make a website “more user friendly” This is starting to sound a little too much like Big Brother and 1984. Whats really scary is that they are basically hiding the plan in plain sight. They are posting this information on the OSTP’s website using language that sounds timid and harmless. Check it out for yourself here at the OSTP site.

Government to repeal long-standing ban on use of tracking objects on public computers.

August 5th, 2009

As you may know, a couple of weeks ago the government began putting the wheels in motion to reverse Clinton-era legislation that bans government use of tracking objects and tracking cookies on federal websites. The justification given for this change in policy is that the government is trying to make federal websites “more user friendly” However, that argument is questionable considering that the government openly admits that the technologies it wishes to employ are far more advanced than those needed to create a more customizable or easy to navigate website. Bev Godwin, the Director of New Media Resources at The White House acknowledged the huge potential for abuse of this technologies against private citizens, and said not to worry, “we want to use the cookies for good, not evil.” That’s reassuring!

I decided to make this site to inform people about these changes in regulation, and potential invasion of their privacy. I found that the average person hasn’t even heard of this new law, and I wanted to get the word out there while there is still time to do something about it. I will post information, articles, and any news about this legislation as it develops. The Office of Management and Budget (who is spearheading the changes) is set to close the window for feedback on the law next week, so I’m sure we’ll hear some more news then.