The end of Anonymity?

1 Reply Jonny Hankins

Over recent years many people have had their DNA analysed and results posted online. The results have been anonymised, but the vast spread of information on the web calls into doubt the possibility of really making information untraceable.

Last week the Boston Globe ran a story reporting an article published in the journal Science, in which researchers demonstrate how they correctly identified individual identities of the owners of some of this DNA.

DNA

DNA, a personal business

Scientists at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research wanted to identify the owners of anonymous DNA samples that are available for research purposes online. They did not have any high technology, using ancestor tracing websites and freely available public documents.

We are not talking about hackers or expensive programs, we are talking about people with every-day computers and the same understanding of how they work as you or I.

It took a single researcher with an Internet connection about three to seven hours per person, and all in all the identities of more than 50 participants were discovered.

This raises several issues. What about all of those people who gave materials for research who find themselves posted and traceable on the Internet? What obligations do commercial companies such as 23andMe have towards their customers, operating in a more or less unregulated environment? (see here for posts about their organization). Can there be real guarantees of anonymity in modern life? Given the obvious advantages of data gathering how can it better be shared in order to protect individual owners?

The very scientists who conducted the research argue that the privacy problem needs to be completely re-analysed, with some scientists dubious that privacy to any extent can be guaranteed.

Problems related to this are both practical and philosophical. In the US the GINA legislation was set up to protect individuals from the effects of their DNA codes (and analysis of it) falling into the ‘wrong hands’. The wrong hands in this case are those of health insurance companies, that might not want to insure a person (or may want to charge more) because they have one particular gene mutation or another.

There are shortcomings however, the GINA legislation does not allow health insurance companies to discriminate on the basis of DNA testing, but other insurance companies are not legislated against. Life insurance and long term care insurance is not covered under the document, so in theory they would be free to decline cover on the basis of DNA analysis. This is particularly important as long term care is extremely expensive and is not covered through health insurance.

Given that anyone who has given their DNA for research purposes risks being identified, they may also risk discrimination.

Google in 2013

11 Replies Amanda Smith

Google is of course a tech giant and a company everyone who’s touched a computer knows of. Google first introduced themselves with their simple search engine in 1998, they have very rapidly and significant progressed, by the year, into the giant they are today. From Google Maps to Google phones, tablets and OS systems, Google is now everywhere! Here’s what we can expect from Google in 2013.

Google-X Division

There is set to be a lot of development at Google in the next year and the first thing that warrants a mention is their futuristic Google-X Division. Google are working on two things that you’ve probably already heard about.

The first is Google Glasses, which are wearable computers which give you a heads up display of the word around you. In the first part of 2013, developers who have pre-ordered them will get their hands on them, and therefore be able to write their own software for them and more. The chances are that we won’t see Google Glasses on the market in 2013, but we’ll certainly come a lot closer to knowing fully what they’ll bring.

The Google-X Division is also working on self-driving cars. Google has received a lot of legislation passes that allows them to drive such cars on roads in various US States such as Nevada, and so you can expect to see a lot more developments in regards to this.

Android

Androids market share has soared in the last few years. It is the fastest growing operating system in the world and this poses some interesting questions on how it will develop and progress in 2013.

Historically developers have been building for iOS first, and thus historically the best apps available were for iDevices through iTunes. However as more and more people buy Android devices, the question is are developers going to start developing for Android first more commonly.

Hardware Division

Google only recently refreshed its line-up of Google Nexus products, which are of course Google branded tablets and smartphones that it develops with other manufacturers. There are however, questions at the moment of how much traction on the market these devices are going to get. Is the new 10-inch Google Nexus tablet going to be competitive enough to make you sell your iPad or at the very least choose it over an iPad?

Nonetheless, expect to see Google release new versions of their Nexus products this year and continue to try and compete with its many competitors in 2013.

Knowledge Graphs

A Google Knowledge Graph example

An example of a Google Knowledge Graph – Albert Einstein.

Google did two really interesting things last year with search. One is that they created the Knowledge Graph which is their effort to map out connections with all sorts of different things.

Now if you start to search for something, like for example, if you search for a famous actor, on the right of the screen you will see a box that’ll tell you about other actors that person may have worked with, films they featured in, as well as basic details such as their age and education.

For an example, see the Albert Einstein Knowledge Graph to the right. For Einstein, Google displays images of the scientist, a brief synopses of his life/works and family, as well as books relating to him, and also similar people you might want to read about – in this case for other scientists, like the physicists Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking.

Google wants to bring its Knowledge Graph to a lot more different parts of the search experience. You’ll thus you will soon start to see more and more of those type of connections when you are Googling.

Google Now

The other major development the search giant was working on in the search area was Google Now.

Google Now is a sort of predictive search. For example, when you take out your phone it might say you have to leave to make it to your appointment because there’s traffic right now, or you might want to go down an alternative road because a specific one is closed. This is only available on devices that run the latest version of Android right now, but Google are preparing to invest a lot more resources into developing this kind of new world of search where you don’t even have to type a query.

So, like in previous years, it seems there is a lot we can expect a lot from Google in 2013.

There’s an app for that

5 Replies Christopher Roberts

On June the 26th 2007, smartphones didn’t exist. Mobile phones, and computers were two very different things. A day later (27/06/2007) Apple launched the iPhone.

You could argue that there were ‘smartphones’ pre-iPhone, but many in the technology industry view the iPhone as the tipping point and birth-date of the modern smartphone – no inverted commas.

With the launch of the iPhone, came the launch of apps. A few years later along came tablets – and what would a tablet be without apps?

In this post I want to explore some of those apps. Not the apps like Angry Birds, Rayman Jungle Run, Skype and Fruit Ninja though, they are what you expect from applications – games and communication. In this post I am going to explore some of the more innovative uses for apps.

Mirror

Ever desperately needed a mirror just when there are none in sight? Mirror by mmapps mobile, is a free app for Android which turns your phone into a usable mirror! The app even lets you zoom in and out and freeze the mirror, something that no mirror I have ever used does.

The app is available in many different languages, and similar apps are available for iDevices, however mmapps mobile don’t make an ‘i’ version.

Square Wallet

Square Wallet is an application which lets you fully embrace mobile payment. With Square Wallet, you can link your credit card to your phone, and then, in a surprisingly large number of retailers, pay for goods, using your phone! The app also lets you track transactions, so you can keep track of what you are buying.

Square Wallet is available for iDevices with iOS 5.0 or later, and Androids via Google Play.

Inflora Flower App

Interflora smartphone appTen years ago, who would have thought that you could be out and about, and on a device which fits in your hand, and order a bouquet of flowers? Probably not many people!

The flower delivery company Interflora has an app where you can do just that. Naturally its called Interflora, and can be download for free for iDevices – any iPod, iPhone or iPad with iOS 3.0 or later. Interflora is also available to download for Android devices. The app gives you access to a wide range of flowers, information (such as delivery details and a description) and prices; you can even order your gift using the app!

Zite Personalised Magazine

If you like to keep up to date with the latest news, and you like the news your way, then Zite is the perfect app for you.

Zite trawls through your Facebook and Twitter feeds to work out what you like to read. The application then created you your very own personalised magazine to read, and the more you use it, the cleverer it gets, and the more tailored your content become – to a point where it should only be displaying content you really want to read.

Zite is available for free for all iDevices with iOS 6.0 or later, although the developers state that is is specifically designed for the iPhone, as opposed to tablets. Zite is also available on Android.

Flow Powered

Flow Powered - NutellaAmazon have recently released an augmented reality app called Flow Power, which can identify millions of real life products (using your phones camera), and can then tell you more information about them.

The app ‘knows’ thousands of books, games and CDs, and is able to tell you about almost anything, if you scan the barcode.

Be it a novel, or a box of chocolates, the app can tell you how much it costs and what other people think of it – pretty clever huh?

Flow Powered is available for Android via Google Play and iOS 4.2 and more recent iDevices through iTunes.

It seems like there is an app for almost everything these days, be it an app to help you apply make-up, order flowers or tell you the price of a video game. There’s an app for that!

Smartphones really are smart.