The Right to Be Not BotNetten

By Alice Lam

Botnets and the right to be forgotten are two ideas in class that has also been in the news.  Although digital advertising seem to be a growing space, it is not without problems.  White Ops, a new start up that has raised $7m in venture capital, will aim to securitize many advertisers from fraudulent botnets.   About 29% of all display advertising  deal with zombie computers, resulting in a loss of $10 billion dollars a year.  White Ops  believe that they have figured out a way to discern between a bot and a real person and will be able to provide a code very much like google analytics that will help the advertiser discern for themselves.   Aside from the botnet “using” the display advertising, White Ops wants to help businesses combat users that use false or stolen credit cards to buy  from the e-commerce site.  Hopefully, White Ops will create solutions around these issues but it is very ironic that the solutions around technology issues can be solved by…more technology.

Google has also started removing search results under Europe’s “Right to be  Forgotten.”  So far, there has been 41,000 removal requests.  Although Larry Page is honoring the right, he believes that the implementation of this right is “impractical.”  Larry Page seems to be for the use of big data to create solutions for people, ie in healthcare, and is worried that people’s fears will cause government to regulate.  When it comes to technology and its future, he hopes that people will not shy away from these issues and create a dialogue and remain optimistic about it.  Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that texts and phones may be taken or looked at without a search warrant.  It is very interesting that the current rulings in the US and Europe has been in support of the rights of the individual.    Especially with July 4^th nearing, it is a good reminder of importance of these rights…even with the advent of more technology.

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/googles-grand-plans-a-conversation-with-googles-larry-page-and-sundar-pichai/

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/a-start-up-with-a-way-to-filter-botnet-traffic-gets-funding/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

http://online.wsj.com/articles/google-starts-removing-search-results-under-europes-right-to-be-forgotten-1403774023