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User:Atlas.Spheres/sandbox/Baja Peninsula & Sea of Cortez

Baja California Peninsula Sonoran Desert

=  Biodiversity  =

Dermochelys Coriacea

The leatherback sea turtle is the largest of all living turtles and is the fourth-heaviest modern reptile behind three crocodiles. It is the only living species in the genus dermochelys and family dermochelyidae. The leatherback sea turtle can be easily differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell, hence the name. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh.

Cultural Significance
The Seri people, a tribe found in Mexico, find the leatherback sea turtle of significant cultural significance because it is one of their five main creators. The Seri people devote ceremonies and fiestas to the turtle when one is caught and then released back into the environment.

Ecological Trouble
Leatherbacks have slightly fewer human-related threats than other sea turtle species. Their flesh contains too much oil and fat to be considered palatable, reducing the demand. However, human activity still endangers leatherback turtles in direct and indirect ways. Directly, a few are caught for their meat by subsistence fisheries. Nests are raided by humans in places such as Southeast Asia. In the state of Florida, there have been 603 leatherback strandings between 1980 and 2014. Almost one-quarter (23.5%) of leatherback strandings are due to vessel-strike injuries, which is the highest cause of strandings.

The Seri people have noticed the drastic decline in turtle populations over the years and created a conservation movement to help this. The group, made up of both youth and elders from the tribe, is called Grupo Tortuguero Comaac. They use both traditional ecological knowledge and Western technology to help manage the turtle populations and protect the turtle's natural environment.

Antilocapra Americana Peninsularis

Antilocapra americana peninsularis, also known as the Baja California pronghorn, is a subspecies of pronghorn endemic to the Baja California Peninsula. Antilocapra americana peninsularis is a critically endangered subspecies according to the IUCN with only an estimated 200 animals remaining in the wild. This subspecies can stand up to 35 inches tall at the shoulder and weigh in at up to 125 pounds. These animal's coloration ranges from golden brown to tan, with white coloration on the jaws, stomach, rump and lower neck. The Baja California Pronghorn is often called los fantasmas del desierto which translates to, “ghosts of the desert,” because their particular coloration in combination with their fast speeds allows them to disappear in the desert. Furthermore, these animal's white underbellies deflect ground heat, keeping them cool. Females are smaller than males, and if horned, retain their spike-like horns for 2-5 years before shedding them. The larger males are longer horned than females, with darker faces. Males' horns are forward-pointing prongs below backward-facing hooks, and outer sheaths are shed annually. These animals are known to live roughly 9-10 years in the wild but may live longer in captivity.

Range
The Baja California pronghorn now only exists in the El Vizcaíno Desert Biosphere Reserve of Baja California and in the Valle de Los Cirios Reserve of Baja California, Mexico. The animals once roamed largely over central Baja California, including areas like the one east of Guerrero Negro named Llano del Berrendo, or Pronghorn Plains.

Cultural Significance
Baja California pronghorn have long-standing ties as a source of sustenance to people indigenous to Baja California. The animals, once widespread, were hunted with bows and arrows, eaten, and skinned to make women’s clothing. The indigenous people, the Cochimí, referred to them as ammo-gokio or ammogokió.

Additional Information
Antilocapra Americana Peninsularis is the fastest hoofed mammal in the world and the second-fastest land mammal. They possess the ability to run at 40-60 miles per hour for over an hour. With 27 foot strides at their top speeds, the Baja California Pronghorn has padded cloven hooves to absorb the resulting shock. When running these animals open their mouth and leave their tongue hanging to consume more air. Their windpipe can reach up to two inches in diameter, funneling air to their enlarged lungs and heart which aid them in oxygen consumption. This unique animal’s oxygen consumption is three times greater than that of comparably sized animals.

Baja California Pronghorn have remarkable eyesight and have the largest eyes of any hoofed animal in North America their size. They have the ability to see for miles. Their pupils can constrict into horizontal slits, which gives them 300-degree vision, protecting them from predators.

Threats and Conservation
The future for these animals remains uncertain. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists their conservation status as critically endangered. Livestock fencing and cattle ranching threaten their livelihood. These obstructions inhibit the animal’s access to favorable habitats and their ability to conduct natural movement. Urban sprawl, human endeavor, and droughts also all threaten populations.

In 1997, the Mexican Government, in cooperation with ENDESU (Espacios Naturales y Desarrollo Sustentable), established the Peninsular Pronghorn Recovery Project. This project, working in conjunction with zoos such as the Los Angeles' Zoo’s animal husbandry program, has grown the population of the Baja California Pronghorn to now exceed 420 animals, both captive and wild, in the areas of the El Vizcaíno Desert Biosphere Reserve and The Valle De Los Cirios Reserve.

Phocoena Sinus

This wonderful aquatic creature named Vaquita is under the Porpoises family which is a long group of marine animals that are mammals that are classified as Phocoenidae. Also the Vaquita, is an endemic animal, that is to say relevant of its location that receives its name “ Vaquita” which in Spanish means “little cow”. This species appears in the Gulf of Baja California and unfortunately is in danger of extinction.

Cultural Significance
The Vaquita is one of the few species of the porpoise endemic which means that it exists only one place in the planet. Because of this it can bring many tourists in the area for ecotourism which is environmental tourism that sees wildlife in its habitat. But because unfortunately the Vaquita is in danger of extinction it can negatively affect the cultural aspect of the areas surrounding the Gulf of Mexico.

Ecological Trouble
Unfortunately, the Vaquita is in danger to extinction. Because of this there will be fewer animals for both prey and predators many sea creatures will be affected by this in which the balance of the food chain in the Gulf of Mexico will have to change and adapt with the disappearance of this wonderful aquatic creature. Vaquitas usually eat around a dozen different type of small and medium-sized fish in which will have one less predator so their numbers can grow and affect the food chain there and also other larger species such as sharks were the Vaquita’s predator in which they will have one less food source again negatively affecting the food chain.

Ctenosaura Hemilopha

This animal is also known as the cape spinytail iguana. They are reptiles that eat mostly plants but they are also able to eat small animals and bugs if they are present. They live in trees, build dens, and sometimes even in cacti. Some people believe that they are in the locations they are today because the Seri Indian people brought them as a source of food. These animals are considered vulnerable because humans are taking over their natural habitat, sometimes they can be hunter to be sold as pets and dogs and cats can pose a threat to them as well. What I think is most surprising about these animals is that they coexist with another type of iguana which is not always common since there may be a limited amount of resources.

Ficus Palmeri

Baja California has two native species of figs from the Moraceae Family: Ficus Palmeri, which grows from the Cape Region to the Tinaja de Yubay region, in Central Baja, many of the islands, and parts of Sonora; whereas, Ficus brandegeei has a smaller range from the Cape to a little north of Loreto, only. They are both pretty similar, with the largest difference being that the Ficus Palmeri does not display its branches and leaves with long ¨hairs¨, meanwhile the Ficus brandegeei does.

Both varieties are called Higuera ("Fig" in Spanish), Zalate or Amate ("you love you" in Spanish), or the Desert Fig in English.

Ecological Significance
The Baja Ficus grows usually on cliffs or in the cracks of rocks. Trees and plants such as the Ficus, help to breakdown or weather stone, creating soil in its wake. Ficus palmeri, as well as three species of cacti in the Baja region (Pachycereus pringlei, Stenocerueus thurberi, and Opuntia cholla) feed on dense layers of microscopic bacteria and fungus that cover the rock surfaces. Then release valuable minerals such as potassium, zinc, magnesium, copper, iron, manganese, and phosphorus during this chemical weathering process. This process provides an indispensable supply of inorganic nutrients for other plants that do grow in the soil.

In Baja, a tea made from the leaves and small branches is used as an antidote for rattlesnake bites in cattle and mules. A wash is used to treat cuts and infections. This is probably due to the fact that the milky white sap of this tree is natural latex that is toxic, a known allergen and is photosensitive. It is also shown to contain anti-inflammatory and antiseptic chemicals as well.

Fouquieria Columnaris

Fouqueria Coumnaris, also often referred to as a Boojum tree or Cirio tree, is a nearly endemic species of stem succulent tree found in the Baja California Peninsula. These trees have a single or branched tapered primary stem. Their primary stems are armored with hundreds of horizontal secondary branches that are not succulents and are armed with spines. When moisture is available to the tree, leaves and secondary branches may grow. However, the trees are usually leafless during arid periods. In relation to moisture received during winter and spring months, the Boojum will elongate its stem. The Boojum is known to bloom in late summer and autumn, bearing clusters of white fragrant flowers or creamy yellow flowers with a honey scent. The tree is a member of the ocotillo family. The Boojum is reported to grow up to 70 feet tall, with its trunk growing up to 24cm thick.

Range
Fouqueria Coumnaris is nearly endemic to the Baja California Peninsula. The tree grows with the help of moist, cool winds from the Pacific Ocean moderating the arid desert climate. The tree can be found in both upper and lower Baja, California. However, it is most commonly found in the subregion of Vizcaíno. Along the Gulf Coast of Sonora, a small population of Boojum exists with help from the cold waters that replicate the influence of the Pacific.

Name
The plant received its English name from the Southwestern naturalist Godfrey Sykes in 1922. When Sykes encountered the foreign-looking plants, he dubbed them “boojums,” a nod to Lewis Carroll’s poem The Hunting of the Snark. The Spanish name of Cirio, meaning candle, originates from the plant's long tapered look, similar to that of candles at nearby missions.

Cultural Significance
An indigenous group of people native to Sonora, the Seri, believe touching the Boojum tree will cause undesirable, strong winds to blow. Furthermore, botanists used to believe mainland patterns of distribution of the plant indicated that the Seri transplanted the boojum further in the interior. However, given the Seri belief about the Boojum, which they call cototaj, this belief has been called into question.

Additional Information
Fouqueria Coumnaris differs from its relatives in the ocotillo family by growing in the winter. Boojum trees were previously believed to only grow inches per year and reach up to 700 years old. Scientists now know that the plants can grow up to as much as 1 to 2 feet during a wet year. Additionally, repeated photography helped discover that the plants only typically live roughly a century. Large individual Boojum are particularly susceptible to direct hurricane events which cause significant destruction to the Boojum population every few decades.

Notable Boojum
The tallest Boojum on record was in Montevideo Canyon near Bahai de Los Angeles. It was recorded by Robert Humphrey in the 1970s and at the time, was 81 feet tall. Hurricane Nora passed directly over the large boojum in 1997, however, the mighty tree survived.

The University of Arizona recently had to remove one of its diseased Boojum trees. The tree was planted in the 1920s or 1930s after a University of Arizona sponsored Baja California trip. The specimen was a noted member of the Krutch Garden and, at 37 feet tall, one of the largest Boojum in the state. Nurserymen plan to attempt to clone the tree using its tips. This process will be documented and is an opportunity for botanists to evaluate opportunities and methods for cloning Boojums. If the precise genotype is successfully saved, it will be reintroduced into Krutch Gardens.

Threats and Conservation
Fouqueria Coumnaris trees are pollinated by many different insects. A study of over 20 years yielded a wide variety of species from the same Fouqueria Coumnaris trees in both Baja California and Sonora. However, many of these species of insects have not been seen again for many years. This may be caused by a temporal niche separation. Diverse types of pollinators have been recorded every year prompted by unknown environmental circumstances in which further study is needed.

Other known threats to boojum include urban sprawl, expansions of agricultural frontiers, climate change, and harvesting for ornamental wood.

The El Vizcaíno Biosphere Region was created in 1988. This protected area is 9,625 sq. miles and is the largest protected wildlife refuge in Mexico. It is home to some boojum, as well as many other protected species. The El Vizcaíno Biosphere Region borders on the Valle de los Cirios.

The Valle de los Cirios, located near Guerrero Negro on the Baja California Peninsula, is the second-largest wildlife protection area in Mexico. This area was deemed a nationally-protected area in 1980 and encompasses over 9,500 sq. miles. The Valle de los Cirios contains a large population of boojum and is home to the highly endangered Desert Pronghorn. It is listed as a tentative site to become a World Heritage Site.

Fouquieria Splendens

This unique plant named the Ocotillo also known as a Fouquieria Splendens is a tall, greyish/greenish spiky plant from the Plantae family. This plant isn't considered a true cactus even though it is covered in thorns and is ingenious to both the Sonoran Desert and the Chihuahuan Desert.

Cultural Significance
The Ocotillo does flower but only when it rains and when the flower dries it can be collected and used for tisanes which is an herbal tea. Also, Native American use to use to cut off the flowers when they blossomed and also cut of parts of the root and collect them for when someone in the tribe use to get cut they would apply either the root or the flower on the open cut which slowed down the bleeding.

Ecological Significance
Both White-Tailed deer and Mule deer have the Ocotillo in their diet, but white-tail deer tends to eat much more Ocotillo than the Mule deer. Because the Ocotillo does flower both hummingbirds and native carpenter bees are able to get nectar from them which also helps the Ocotillo spread its pollen. Also, it can provide some cover or shelter from the hot desert for smaller mammals, birds and reptiles.

Agave shawii

This plant is also known as Shaw's agave or coastal agave. These plants which are part of the genus agave are drought resistant which makes them great for living in the desert. Their roots respond fast to rain which is a good adaptation for life in the desert. These plants were used by Kumeyaay Native Americans as a source of food, tools, and even clothing. They would make many things by beating the leaves which would result in fibers that they would use for rope, clothing, traps, sandals and many other things.

=  Climate & Geology =

Baja California is home to a total of 161 operating mines in the whole Mexican state. A total of 19 different minerals are being mined which are Gold, Tungsten, Copper, Iron, Silver, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Sulfur, Manganese, Lead, Aluminum, Barium-Barite, Graphite, Silica, Zinc, Zirconium, Titanium, Titanium Metal, Molybdenum and Chromium. The mines are spread out through the state of Baja California and are broken into 5 different provinces which is placed depending on its location and what are mined. In the first province deposits of mesothermal sulfates of iron, copper and gold are being mined. The second province corresponds to the gold veins distributed along the whole state. The third province corresponds to deposits of tungsten. The fourth province corresponds to the deposits of manganese sulfites, barite, lead, zinc and silver. The fifth province involves the gold pleasure deposits. Some of the cities in Baja California that have these mines are Tijuana (which has 23 operating mines), Ensenada (which has 13 operating mines) and Mexicali (which has 4 operating mines). More mines are located in other cities and towns throughout the Baja California region.

= Water & Land Use =

Water Use

For water usage, the water is gathered from the Colorado River in Mexicali Baja California and with a canal system it goes through La Rumorosa which goes to into a reservoir named “El Carrizo” in which Tecate, Rosarito and Tijuana Baja California. In the south most of the water is collected by rainfall in the mountains named “Sierra de las Trincheras” and “El Novillo” in which water is distributed to La Paz and its surrounding towns.

Land Use
For land usage, unfortunately, there is a lot of trash that is illegally dumped throughout the desert and in the ocean but the trash that is collected, each city in Baja California gathers it and disposes it to its closest landfill in which each large city has their own in their outskirts and the smaller towns around it use them as well. Landfills are located in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexicali, Tijuana, Ensenada, San Quintin, Rosarito, Santa Rosalia, Loreto, and La Paz. Sewage waste is also disposed of in landfills alongside solid waste.

Baja California is part of Mexico, but is separated by the Sea of Cortez. It is 71,450 km2 with a population of 3,315,766. Land is used in many ways one of them being for real estate. This would make sense with the population they have and the services they would need. Although it has been changing withing the last 1-2 decades because of changes in the border between Mexico and the U.S. The second way that land is used is agriculture. Agriculture is extensively practiced throughout Baja California. Although vegetables and fruits would be a big part of it, there is also wines that are produced by this agriculture. Mining is probably the last main use of land in Baja California. Silver and other precious metals could be mined in this area. One of the wilderness areas in Baja California is Cabo Pulmo National Park. It is a coral reef that has been estimated to be around 20,000 years old with about 800 species living there today. Another wilderness area is El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, which is the largest area of protected land in Mexico.

Urban Sprawl
Urban sprawl is a current threat to the Sonoran Desert portion of Baja California. Cabo San Lucas is a major tourist destination for Baja California. However, developers now have sourced colonial Loreto as a potential location for a tourist and vacation destination. These developing tourism destinations threaten to bring urban sprawl to the lower half of Baja California, increasing the probability of habitat fragmentation for endemic species. Urban sprawl may have secondary detrimental environmental effects. Baja California sources the majority of its energy from power plants, such as those in Rosarito and Ensenada. These power plants are massive contributors to man-made climate change. Increases in tourism and resulting urban sprawl will increase demand for energy from these pants, which run off destructive natural gasses supplied by the United States.

=  Opportunities & Threats =

Climate Change
Climate change looms as the largest ecological threat to the Baja California subregion and the entire Sonoran Desert. Unchecked, the effects of climate change in the Sonoran Desert will be far-reaching and widespread throughout all biomes and ecosystems. The Sonoran Desert already finds itself in a drought with at least a 25 to 40% drop in precipitation over the last 50 years. The region has been identified as being within a projected “global hot spot” resulting from climate change, with models demonstrating warming of 5.4-10.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

Increased temperatures place strains on entire ecosystems by undermining food webs. Warming temperatures, among many other factors, will increase evapotranspiration rates, stressing primary producers and the resulting food webs. Slow-moving species such as desert tortoises will have much harder times reacting to the unpredictable weather patterns produced by climate change. Furthermore, species capable of more rapid reaction and migration may attempt to move out of designated protected wildlife areas, such as the Valle de los Cirios area, only to have their movement blocked by human habitat fragmentation.

Opportunities to address climate change exist at every moment of every person’s day on a global scale. From choosing a profession that champions global climate change causes or conducts research to a persons simple daily choices, there is a way for everyone to get involved. A plethora of information is widely available on making more sustainable choices. Other ways to help address climate change are to research and donate to the most effective organizations battling climate change. Practicing responsible civics by researching and voting for environmentally friendly legislation and candidates and starting grassroots environmental movements or joining current movements are all ways of addressing climate change.

Invasive Species

Sahara mustard weed, a large, hardy fast-growing winter annual, along with a with similar invasive grass, Buffelgrass, threaten many of the endemic flora of Baja California and the Sonoran Desert. Sahara mustard started as a localized population before beginning a massive range expansion. The weed is particularly effective at challenging native cacti and perennial shrubs for resources such as light and soil moisture. Furthermore, the weed possesses the capacity to smother native herbaceous plants.

First recorded in California’s Coachella Valley in 1927, by the 1970s the plant was widespread across the Sonoran Desert and Baja California. Sahara mustard mainly kept to disturbed soil and sandy areas until in the 1990s, when it began invading undisturbed desert. In the twenty-first century, the weed again adapted and began invading the steep desert slopes and rocky soils of the Sonoran. It is now known to cause acres of impenetrable thickets in some places, completely excluding any other annuals.

Currently, research is being conducted on the best ways to combat aggressive invasive species such as Sahara mustard weed. The most effective method to date is hand weeding. Though this method is not considered a tenable long-term solution, it has been shown to be useful while research is being developed. The Bureau of Land Management conducts hand weedings, in which they may be looking for local volunteers. Contacting your local BLM office may be one of the best ways to help fight such invasive species.

Endangered Species

Antilocapra americana peninsularis, also known as the Baja California pronghorn, is a subspecies of pronghorn endemic to the Baja California Peninsula. Antilocapra americana peninsularis is a critically endangered subspecies according to the IUCN with only an estimated 200 animals remaining in the wild.

Combatting climate change may be one of the best ways to help save the pronghorn. High mortality rates, especially during droughts have contributed to the decline of this species. Currently CONANP (Mexico’s National Commission of Protected Natural Areas) is working with American organizations such as the L.A. Zoo to stabilize the pronghorn through the Peninsular Pronghorn Recovery Program in the El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve. Consider donating to or contacting these organizations to ask how you can help these animals. Finally, people can raise awareness about antilocapra americana peninsularis.

Like many other threats in the world, humans have a big part in this. One big issue in the Baja Californina/Gulf of California area is the vaquita. This small porpoise is threatened by gill-nets that are used to fish another endangered species the totoaba. Gill-nets are nets that are nets that are placed in the water and catch anything that tries to swim through. This is the only place that the vaquita lives in and having these nets makes them face some challenges. Although, regulations on the use of gill-nets have been established, there is still people that illegally use these gill-nets to fish and vaquitas are accidentally being caught an most of them die. They are the most endangered marine mammal of the world with less than 30 in the entire planet and none in captivity. Luckily for the vaquita there is a lot of people that are trying to help. Other than banning gill-net fishing, the Mexican government also tried to help fishers use alternatives to gill-nets so that they still have a way to make a living. Other conservation groups are also trying to remove the gill-nets but there is a lot and they keep getting replaced. Some ways that can help the vaquita is enforcing the ban of gill-nets, educating people about the vaquita and people can ask how the fish you are about to buy was fished.

Habitat Fragmentation

Many opportunities are found in Baja California because it is in the middle of both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. Because of this tourism is in every city that is in the shore to either of the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of California. For example, San Felipe is in the shore of the Gulf of California and because of this many people from both the U.S and other parts of Mexico go there to enjoy the beach. Also because of the tourism the beaches bring San Felipe they also host an off-road racing event named San Felipe 250 which happens yearly bringing more people to this city.

The threats from what the Baja California Peninsula and the Gulf of California suffers from are all done by humans. The principal threats are livestock ranching, salt extraction, and hunting. With ranching many acres of space are taken away in which affected both populations of mule deer and bighorn sheep significantly. With hunting because so much deer type animals are being hunted it has affected the population of Pumas in the area due to they no longer have their main source of food available as much as they were having. And with the salt extraction from the see this has negatively affected the breeding and migration of gray whales.


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Cookbook:Zalabiyeh (Sweet Fritters) I

Zalabiyeh is a deep-fried fritter eaten in many societies, made almost entirely of wheat flour, yeast, salt and water. It is made sweet by being sprinkled with confectionary sugar or dipped in honey.

Ingredients

 * 600 g white, all-purpose wheat flour
 * 3 tbsp sugar
 * 1 tsp salt
 * 1½ tbsp dry yeast
 * 2½ cup lukewarm water (or enough for kneading dough)
 * Eggs (optional)
 * Milk (optional)
 * Vegetable oil

Procedure

 * 1) Mix all ingredients except oil, and work them together until you have a semi-thin and sticky dough.
 * 2) Cover dough with towel, and let it rest for 45 minutes in warm place.
 * 3) Wash hands and again work the dough. Let dough rest for 20 minutes.
 * 4) Preheat oil in frying pan on the stove over a medium heat (depth of oil should be shallow).
 * 5) Wash hands, oil them, and take out small portions of dough to be placed in boiling oil within frying pan.
 * 6) Fry on low heat and when the dough has turned a golden brown on its bottom side, flip it over and fry on reverse side.
 * 7) When fried, remove from oil and place on top of paper towels to absorb excess oil.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Cookbook:Zalabiyeh (Sweet Fritters) I


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Cookbook:Aquafaba

| Basic foodstuffs | Vegan cuisine | Vegan substitutions

Aquafaba refers to the liquid left behind when beans are cooked.

Characteristics
Aquafaba is usually made with chickpeas, but it can reportedly also be made from other legumes. It is very viscous, with a generally neutral flavor and odor, and it owes its ability to be whipped into a foam to its carbohydrate and protein content—make sure to shake the can of beans well to redistribute any settled starches.

The properties of the aquafaba depend on the type of legume used, as well as the cooking process.

Selection and storage
The easiest way to make aquafaba is by straining the liquid from canned chickpeas, but it can also be made from dried chickpeas. Aquafaba will keep well in the fridge for about a week. For long-term storage, freeze in small portions and thaw when ready to use.

Use
Aquafaba can be used as a vegan replacement for egg whites and whole eggs, depending on the context. To replace an egg in cooking, use about 3 tablespoons of aquafaba for a whole egg and 2 tablespoons for an egg white. It is known to work well in meringue and other foams, mayonnaise, marshmallow, and cocktails.

Whipped aquafaba benefits from the addition of cream of tartar (about ¼ tsp per 4 oz aquafaba), which stabilizes the foam.

title: Cookbook:Aquafaba


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Information Technology and Ethics/Privacy and The Internet of Things

Introduction
The term  Internet-of-Things  is used as an umbrella term for various aspects related to the physical extension of the Internet and the Web through the widespread deployment of spatially distributed devices with embedded identification, sensing, and/or actuation capabilities. The large scale of IoT systems and the high level of heterogeneity are likely to increase the security risks posed by the current Internet, which is being used to enable interactions between humans, machines, and robots in any combination.

In this section, we will cover the Internet of Things and privacy problems related to IOT, as well as some of the most common concerns with appropriate examples. We will also discuss a scenario in which IoT became a security and privacy liability for users. As previously stated, this chapter focuses mostly on privacy issues with IoT, thus you may notice that we emphasize privacy rather than security in the next parts.

Privacy in IoT Devices
An IoT system can be thought of as a group of intelligent devices working together to achieve a shared objective. Depending on their target, IoT installations may use different processing and communication architectures, technologies, and design techniques at the technological level. Because of their low computational capacity, traditional security countermeasures and privacy enforcement cannot be effectively applied to IoT technologies; also, the large number of networked devices poses scaling concerns. At the same time, valid security, privacy, and trust models suitable for IoT applications must be defined in order to achieve full user approval. Since devices may handle sensitive information, data protection and user personal information confidentiality must be guaranteed when it comes to privacy regulations.

Individuals' understanding and perception of information privacy differ, and its enforcement necessitates efforts from both government and technology. In an IoT system, data is typically collected by end devices, transferred through communication networks, evaluated by local/remote servers, and finally given to various applications. As a result, confidential data must be safeguarded at all stages of the architecture stack. In this instance, implementing appropriate privacy design strategies based on the functions of the layers in the data lifecycle is crucial. Techniques implemented at a specific layer may become insufficient or redundant otherwise.

Because of its close relationship with the actual world, IoT technology should be designed to be secure and privacy-preserving. This means that security should be seen as a critical system-level attribute and should be considered while designing architectures and procedures for IoT solutions. Privacy governs the conditions under which data pertaining to specific users may be accessed. The key reasons for privacy being a core IoT need are the envisioned IoT application domains and the technologies deployed. Healthcare applications are the most notable application field, with the adoption of IoT technology hampered by a lack of acceptable systems for preserving the privacy of personal and/or sensitive information. This is expected to be a critical prerequisite for securing user acceptability and widespread adoption of the technology. Without guarantees of system-level secrecy, authenticity, and privacy, it is unlikely that critical stakeholders will adopt IoT solutions on a significant scale.

The widespread use of wireless media for data exchange may raise new concerns about privacy violations. Because of their remote access capabilities, wireless channels raise the danger of violation, potentially exposing the system to eavesdropping and fraudulent attacks. As a result, privacy is a serious open problem that may stifle IoT development. The development of real ways for constructing privacy-preserving mechanisms for IoT applications continues to pose various challenges. The definition of a general model capable of representing all IoT essential items and their interactions would aid the development of concrete implementations. Furthermore, the implementations should contain enforcement mechanisms capable of dealing with the volume and dynamic nature of IoT scenarios. To meet these needs, systems that can enforce dynamic data stream access control should be offered.

Collection of Private Data
The gathering and sharing of individual data without the user's consent is one of the greatest privacy issues with IoT. Numerous IoT devices gather enormous volumes of data, which may reveal sensitive information about a person's interests, lifestyle, and habits. Smart thermostats, door locks, and security cameras are examples of smart home appliances that monitor people's daily activities, sleeping patterns, and home entry and exit times.

Data Security
Another issue is that IoT devices collect and store sensitive data, which can lead to vulnerabilities and privacy risks. As an example, in the event that a smart home device is breached, a hacker might approach essentially everything in a smart home including smartphones, TVs, cameras, and other smart devices.

Lack of control
The absence of user control over their data is one of the most serious privacy concerns with IoT. Devices can gather and send data without the users' knowledge or capacity to regulate what data is collected or transferred. Smart home and fitness trackers, for example, collect data on users' everyday activities and transfer it to third-party firms without their knowledge or agreement.

Third-party sharing
The enormous measure of Data created by IoT devices is routinely shared to third parties without the user consent, raising serious privacy concerns and the risk of data breaches, identity theft, and other privacy violations. In 2019, for example, researchers revealed that Amazon's Ring doorbell, an IoT device, was sharing customers' personal information with third-party analytics organizations without their knowledge.

Demonstrations of IoT privacy Issues
Most consumers are aware of phishing emails and links that might infect their phones when they are activated, but few are concerned about their televisions. Since the CIA supplied their engineers with documentation in 2014 that includes an attack on Samsung F-series smart TVs, smart TVs have been demonstrated to be hackable. According to the CIA documents, the exact vulnerability requires a person to have access to the smart TV to connect to a USB drive and dump the information saved in the television, as well as download malicious programs that contain key-loggers, visual controls, and audio controls. The previously mentioned capabilities of malicious software can be utilized to successfully spy on individuals; after all, the television screen is the largest screen and camera view in most homes.

Years later, in Defcon27, an independent security researcher by the name of Pedro Cabrera showed how to hack a smart TV using a more sophisticated technique. Cabrera hijacked the TV network provider's signal with a drone equipped with an antenna and a laptop, causing the smart television to podcast whatever Cabrera desired. Cabrera claims that as long as the signal from his drone antenna is greater than the signal from the network provider, he can hijack the signal and gain access to the targeted smart television. Placing the drone near the TV, whether on the rooftop or near a window, is an easy approach to boost the signal from the drone antenna. As the drone gets closer to the target house the signal for the drone antenna increases.

In addition, many users have become aware in recent years that most gadgets and organizations do not request passwords over the phone or email. However, because most people buy smart televisions for improved quality rather than advanced technological capabilities, they are unaware that televisions, like phones and computers, should be kept with care. Another hack that tackles this issue was demonstrated in Defcon27 by Cabrera, who demonstrated how he can make a popup window appear on the TV asking the user to re-enter the WIFI credentials because the service provider has made an update. The fact that the feed stops and the user cannot continue watching unless they submit the information asked by the hacker make this popup window appear real.

Conclusion
It is important to keep up with adequate security and protection norms to guarantee the real expansion of IoT services. The Internet of Things (IoT) has various security and information assurance challenges. IoT device data gathering, data security, lack of user control, and third-party sharing issues pose severe threats to individuals' privacy rights. Policymakers, organizations, and buyers should resolve these issues to guarantee that IoT devices are made and utilized in a way that respects individuals' protection and autonomy. Only by carefully considering the privacy implications of IoT can we fully realize the transformational promise of this technology while protecting fundamental human rights.


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User:Itsmeyash31

itsmeyash31
Hello! I edit pages on the wiki websites related to languages.

title: User:Itsmeyash31


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Talk:End-user Computer Security/Main content/Digital storage

Add umbrella parent section for the subsections that are each dedicated to a particular pair-wise comparison between storage types?
The subsections that each compare one type versus another, can probably be usefully placed under an umbrella parent section labelled something like 'Various pair-wise comparisons that compare different storage types (comparisons in the form of type A vs. type B)'.

MarkJFernandes (discuss • contribs) 13:41, 24 April 2020 (UTC)

Generalise name of §"Magnetic storage: tapes vs. discs"
Whilst tape storage appears to be mostly only available in magnetic-tape form, it makes sense to generalise the title of "Magnetic storage: tapes vs. discs" section so that the section is about a comparison between tape and disc storage in general (irrespective of the particular implementation). MarkJFernandes (discuss • contribs) 14:05, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

Add section called ' "Conspicuous markings on paper" based storage vs. "Non-conspicuous-data" based storage?
Such a section would perhaps focus on the aspect of being able to perform naked-eye visual inspections to confirm the correctness of the data. Andrew Huang (as mentioned elsewhere in this Wikibooks book) suggests that such visual inspection is beneficial for computer hardware: he specifically suggests using transparent materials for things like keyboards, so that users can easily confirm that the hardware internally looks as it should.

Being able to do such inspections is useful because if such inspections are not possible, you are likely going to have to rely on hardware to confirm data correctness, and that introduces, with respect to the relied-upon hardware, the possibility of firmware malware as well as of hardware-based tampering.

Examples of "Conspicuous markings on paper" based storage: QR codes; punched tape; paper-based ticker tape.

If adding such a section, it probably would be a good idea to link to the Wikipedia "Paper key" page.

Such "Conspicuous markings on paper" based storage might be good for BIOS/UEFI startup code.

MarkJFernandes (discuss • contribs) 09:45, 18 May 2020 (UTC)

Add info contrasting recoverable file deletion with data-sanitisation file deletion?
The topic of 'file deletion' in respect of whether it be recoverable deletion or data-sanitisation deletion, is currently not covered in this chapter. It probably should be covered, as it does concern end-user computer security.

MarkJFernandes (discuss • contribs) 07:57, 16 May 2020 (UTC)

Add information about storing data in volatile RAM not powered separately?
Storing data in volatile RAM not powered separately, may offer certain security advantages, in terms of not leaving traces after the computer has been powered-off. However, in "State considered harmful - A proposal for a stateless laptop" by Joanna Rutkowska, it is indicated that residual data can remain in powered-off DRAM for a long time; to blank such DRAM, a secure wiping (possibly zeroing) procedure could be performed on the DRAM (the paper mentions that short-circuiting pins on DRAM might work to do such blanking, short-circuiting could be quicker and more energy efficient). Mentioning these things might be worthwhile, if adding info about digital storage in volatile RAM not powered separately. Such RAM can be used for holding software including the OS(also see note about Puppy Linux and "Secure computing using Raspberry Pi for business purposes" project proposal that proposed to keep OS in volatile RAM without separate power) —if any malware infects such RAM, powering the computer off (including through rebooting), should effectively get rid of it. If you could solely use such RAM for a particular OS, it would likely be very fast, and also would perhaps preempt the need for the isolated virtualisation security model offered by Qubes OS in certain circumstances, because the OS would effectively be sandboxed. Perhaps this was part of the thinking behind the early computer models that required loading software from things like cassette tape to volatile RAM not separately powered?

Storing data in such RAM can have additional advantages if used in conjunction with using sleep mode during periods when the computer is not being used—see here for more about this.

Do SD cards suffer a security weakness with regard to potential clandestine embedded wireless technology?
SD cards can have WiFi tech in them, as described in the §⟪About using a Wi-Fi enabled SD card⟫ under the §⟪Regarding how to obtain software⟫ (in "Software based" chapter). Could this be a security weakness of SD cards? Perhaps devices that instead have their chips visible or at least easily open to visual inspection, are then better?

Storage and retrieval without needing to use any firmware
The use of firmware used specifically for a particular storage medium, is a point of weakness, and attack point, in respect of malware potentially being hidden in the firmware. This is the case with modern mass storage devices such as SD cards, memory sticks, SSD drives, etc. It is also the case with older storage technologies such as CD drives, DVD drives, hard disks, and probably also floppy disk drives (or at least probably all the brand new floppy disk drives that are nowadays available.)

By using a standard cassette tape player, maybe a walkman, perhaps an old one, data can be stored on magnetic-tape cassette tapes (like was done several decades ago for computers like the Spectrum 48k [back in the 80s]). Probably such tape players have no firmware. But even if they do have firmware, the re-purposing of the technology from being music technology to being data-storage technology, probably would overcome various security threats as adversaries would likely not consider developing malware for such tech and also would likely find it much harder to do any such development (see §⟪DIY security principle⟫ in the ⟪Broad Security Principles⟫ chapter for more about re-purposing as a broad security principle). Reusing an old tape player (maybe a walkman) that you have lying around, could be one way to ensure better that adversaries have not tampered with the tape player you use. The tape player can simply play audio into the mic-in of the computer, and receive audio through the headphone socket. The OS would provide the software for dealing with the data storage medium, and this is likely desirable as OS installations are often not so difficult to deal with in terms of malware removal and detection, as firmware is (such installations often being on "exposed" and large SSDs or HDDs). There is a chance that firmware in the sound card (or SoC for the sound card?), could pose a point of weakness in terms of potentially harbouring malware, but overall, if the tape player has no firmware, the number of points of weakness/attack should be smaller in respect of the number of firmware chips. As just outlined, there are also other reasons why such tech would likely be potentially more secure.

How much data can be stored on such tapes might be quite limiting. Perhaps such tapes might then be used for things like firmware code, maybe firmware backups.

Researching better than normal SD cards, or way to interface with SD-card slots to overcome SD-card vulnerabilities
So far, my researching these issues hasn't really found much out there to overcome the vulnerabilities posed by using 'SD card' slots. The only thing that I've found that might be promising is the 'TE0747 - MicroVault' open-source-hardware product. It could be that this product might be more 'trustable' than most products out there, just because it is based on open-source technology, and also because it might be produced in Germany. But what is more interesting, is that it may be readily possible to wipe the SD card's microcontroller firmware data, and reinstall a fresh firmware image. If possible, it could be one way to be able to make sure no malware is in the SD card's microcontroller firmware, which if present, is a serious concern.

Surprising that I have not been able to find any other solution.... Maybe there is a cover-up?

Cryptography can be leveraged to enable the safe use of potentially unsafe digital storage
See the "Dealing with the situation where you want to work with potentially security-compromised equipment" note for more about this; the paragraph on how to leverage cryptography technology, is the relevant one.

Digital-storage security through multiple copies of data
There appears to be a general digital-storage security principle, whereby greater security can be induced simply through keeping multiple copies of data. If such multiple copies are kept physically isolated from each other, perhaps some as backups where they may be stored miles away from the user's location, then even more security can perhaps be attained. The security is simply based on the fact that the likelihood of adversaries "messing" with every single copy of some data, is generally less than if no copies of the data were kept. The same principle is in play when users make backups of their data, although the threat in such cases may be less from adversaries and more from system failures. Whilst physical isolation can improve security, simply keeping multiple copies of your data on your own computer system may be beneficial. Being able to make multiple copies is dependent on such being affordable, and so making multiple copies using cheap DVDs/CDs and/or cheap cloud storage, may be the way to go for some people. Such security also requires that the copies be able to be checked for sameness, as an integral part of the security; fortunately, computing technology is quite able to do this.

This idea of keeping multiple copies of data, was touched upon in respect of keeping multiple copies of a live system DVD, in a Raspberry Pi project attempting to establish a secure computing environment for business purposes—see here for more about the project.

The note "How to compare live OS discs obtained using multiple channels, when you have no trusted OS...." is related to this note.

Can perhaps generalise §⟪Rewritable media vs optical ROM discs⟫ a little?
Whilst §⟪Rewritable media vs optical ROM discs⟫ probably is quite worthwhile, there is no mention on the page of other kinds of "OTP" (one-time programmable) storage: for example, the OTP microchip tech sometimes designated for portions of some firmware, is not mentioned. Deliberately using OTP tech. in a security-related way, may be a good idea for security. See https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=286049&p=1731799#p1731432 for some info on how OTP tech can be leveraged for security. It might be possible to create OTP tech through the use of a USB security token, and non-ROM memory— see this Rasp Pi Forums post for particular info on this.

Talk about one-way storage?
One-way storage, such as that available with certain USB security tokens, might be a broad category of storage that could do with particular treatment in this chapter. Alternatively, it might be worth mentioning it in the "Passwords and digital keys" chapter, as its primary security advantage seems to be perhaps just in respect of the storage of private keys used for asymmetric-key cryptography. It is mentioned in passing in the Raspberry Pi Forums post here, as well in the Rasp Pi documentation in respect of making certain customer OTP (one-time programmable) bits unreadable here.


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Cookbook:Malawach (Flaky Flatbread)

Malawach is a layered, flaky flatbread that is popularly eaten in Israel, and now made popular in other regions. It is typically brushed with oil or fat and cooked flat in a frying pan.

Ingredients

 * 1 kg white all-purpose wheat flour
 * ½ cup white granulated sugar
 * 2 tsp dried yeast
 * 1 tbsp salt
 * 2–3 cups lukewarm water (or such as is sufficient for kneading dough)
 * Vegetable oil (sufficient for lining skillet)
 * 200 g melted butter or margarine

Procedure

 * 1) Mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and water, starting with only 2 cups of water. Knead the dough well, adding additional water if necessary to make it soft and pliable.
 * 2) Cover and let dough rest until it doubles in size.
 * 3) Take up dough and begin to knead it by hand. Divide dough into 12 smaller portions and place upon oiled surface. Let dough rest until each portion rises and doubles in size, occasionally oiling the surface of dough.
 * 4) Grease a work surface with oil. Roll out each piece of dough with a rolling pin to get very large, almost paper-thin, rounds of dough.
 * 5) Brush each round liberally with melted butter. Fold the dough in half, from the top towards the bottom. Then, roll it up from the top towards the bottom as one would roll-up a sleeping bag, forming a rope. Coil the rope around itself into a spiral.
 * 6) Cover and allow the dough to rest until it rises and doubles in size.
 * 7) Roll each spiral out again into a thin round. Brush again with butter, then repeat the rolling and coiling process.
 * 8) Allow the dough to rest once more while covered until it rises.
 * 9) Heat a skillet with a little vegetable oil.
 * 10) Use your hands to flatten out the dough coils on a greased surface.
 * 11) Place flattened dough portions in skillet and cover with lid. Fry the dough on a medium to low heat until the bottom turns an amber color. Flip over and fry on reverse side without the lid.
 * 12) Serve hot.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * Malawach is often served with a hard-boiled egg, along with tomato salsa that has been flavored with freshly-chopped coriander.

title: Cookbook:Malawach (Flaky Flatbread)


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User:Nameer56/sandbox

box: box: (noun) a container, especially a cube or a cuboid. We put our toys into the toy box.

ax: ax: (noun) a tool used for cutting wood that consists of a wooden block with a blade. Use an ax to chop the wood.

wax: wax: (noun) a sticky, yellow substance that is produced by bees. Candles are made out of wax.

ox: ox: (noun) one of a breed of large cattle used in some countries for pulling things. esp. an adult castrated male. A zebu is an example of an ox.

fox: fox: (noun) any of a breed of a dog that has reddish-orange fur and triangle ears Foxes are very sly.

ex: ex (noun) a former husband, wife, girlfriend, or boyfriend. I am staying with my own ex.

mix: mix (verb) to combine something together. I

fix:

tyrannosaurus rex:

exit:

oxygen:

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title: User:Nameer56/sandbox


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Information Technology and Ethics/Privacy and Social Networking sites

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Introduction
Our personal information is more susceptible than ever in the era of social media. Privacy has grown to be a top issue for consumers as social networking services gain more and more traction. Although these websites provide users the opportunity to share private information with a big audience, they also put them at risk of identity theft, cyberbullying, and other online dangers. The subject of privacy on social networking sites has emerged as being crucial in this context. The purpose of this introduction is to discuss the difficulties users have in maintaining their users' privacy on social networking sites.

Social media alludes to websites and applications that are designed to allow people to share content quickly, efficiently and in real-time. It can also be said that social media are apps on smartphones or tablets, but the truth is, this communication platform started with the use of internet in computers. It started with just being part of groups, and went on to online chat rooms to fully functional websites and apps that people use to share videos, pictures and thoughts, marketing, dating as well as influencing others.

So then arises the question of what is the difference between social media and social network? Social media means the content that one posts online. It could be a blog, slideshow, podcast etc. Whereas social networking site is the medium via which a person can create relationships, communities, followers etc. Furthermore, one can also say that social networking is just a subset of social media.

History
A look into the background can help widen the horizon for understanding how social media got so relevant in the first place. Backing up all the way to 1978, BBS was created which is Bulletin Board System accessible via dial up model and was used primarily for communities which had specific interests. Next came along CompuServe which became popular where people could share files, access new and other events. They could interact via email. AOL and Yahoo Groups in 1994 was the very first originator to social networking sites, where one could be part of communities and the members had a profile. Fast forwarding to 2002, where came Friendster, which encouraged people to bond with common interests. Also, in the same year, LinkedIn launched with an aim of career networking but did not gain much traction until 2010.

In 2003, Myspace came into existence, where youngsters could see each other's activity as long as they were part of each other's networks. In 2004, came the biggest game changer and that is Facebook which connected people with their friends and a lot of other features that were enabled along with posting videos, pictures and content sharing among friends and also other people who could search you online. Then came in 2005, YouTube which was exclusively a video upload and sharing platform and still is the number 1. In 2006, Twitter came into existence which limited interactions in the form of comments and posting tweets. Instagram made its debut in 2010 with the focus of being the sole photo sharing/editing app and then came Snapchat in 2011 which allowed to share moments with friends.

As one can see this is how social media started gaining momentum and with different websites/apps offering unique features on their platform it became essential for every youngster/general public to become a part of this to keep up with the times and stay connected to everyone as much possible. Social networking sites which are the most popular today are Facebook, Messenger ,Instagram, Snapchat ,Twitter, Whatsapp and TikTok.

That being said, the advent of social networks brought on a host of various concerns and the biggest concern for social media is privacy. But for a long time, very few people were actually aware of privacy. In fact, since it was so new and the young generation as well as the older ones who got connected to a lot of acquaintance and new friends, they did not realize that their conversations in a lot of social network platforms could be viewed by other people as well. That is just the way the social network platform algorithms were built that allowed people outside of connections to view content and also follow/stalk other people including the activities of a person on that particular social networking site.

According to a 2014 survey, 91% of Americans “agree” or “strongly agree” that "people felt that they lost control over how personal information is collected and used by all kinds of institutions". 80% of social media users said they were uneasy about advertisers and organizations having a way to use the data that was posted on social media platforms and 64% were of the opinion that government should be more proactive on data handling, as this data was being used by marketers.

Social networking sites continue to be a worry despite continued attempts to resolve privacy issues. A significant incident involving the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which illegally stole data on millions of Facebook users, impacted Facebook in 2018. It is expected that new methods for defending user privacy and making sure their personal data is protected online will emerge as technology advances. Overall, social networking sites continue to play a big role in our lives, but privacy protection is still a top priority when using them.

Individual privacy as a concept
In an independent study, according to CPO magazine it was found that the privacy cannot be completely possible as friends always make it a likelihood of sharing the user's information to other people outside the network as well. There is also something known as a concept of choice of individual privacy that is completely dependent on an individual as to how much information they want to share with the world. Looking at the above statement, an advocate of the individual privacy will say that one cannot completely obscure information from everybody. So, it is better to not put it online at all. Some who do not agree with it say that one should not expect privacy to be a big factor if they are sharing personal information on social media as they are doing it by choice and leave it to be viewed by friends and those who wish to see their information.

Privacy concerns
In today's digital environment, privacy concerns with regard to social media are a big problem. Here are a few instances:

Privacy Settings of Major Platforms
These settings are built in a way that if a user is not vigilant, they might end up sharing not only their personal data but also their activity unintentionally to companies and other third party who are always looking towards improving their own websites accessibility and marketing.

Location Stealing
Enabling GPS location of the user's taking the data from the cell phone, this "can be used to build up a picture of your everyday movements. Location data can be coupled with other data and aggregated to create a very specific picture of an individual’s life and habits". This also encourages stalking and can also be used for nefarious purposes other than the invasion of privacy.

Identity Theft
Hacking can lead to stealing a user's identity and can also ruin a person's reputation and image in front of their friends and followers if wrong things are posted online and different kinds of malicious acts are committed from their accounts ,which include stealing credit card numbers, bank account numbers and login passwords.

Abuse
Creating fake profiles, trying to seduce younger teenagers and luring them out to physically abuse them or emotionally blackmail either them or the people that are known to each other can go on indefinitely until reported. Especially if intimate pictures/videos/audios are leaked online by the perpetrators.

Stalking
Not only the location can be tracked, if enabled on the phone by a potential stalker, they could be also keeping eyes on the target's move every time of the day. This helps the lurkers to actually judge and try to know the person based on their target's online activity and then maybe plan their own moves accordingly to harm their target or kidnap them or worse.

Cyberbullying and harassment
People can be bullied and harassed online, frequently in an anonymous manner, via social media platforms. This may adversely affect a person's mental health and general wellbeing.

Deepfake Technology
Deepfake technology allows for the creation of fake pictures and videos that may be used to disseminate propaganda and false information.

Data Collection and Tracking
Social media networks gather a ton of user information that is frequently utilized for marketing and advertising. Users may not be aware of how their data is being utilized, which raises privacy issues around this data collecting.

Third Parties Access to Data
Social media platforms may divulge user information to outside developers, marketers, and other businesses, raising questions about how that information is utilized.

Evolution of Privacy in Social Networking sites
In the upcoming paragraph taking a look at how Facebook and other companies took advantage of the non-existing privacy laws and why because of them new rules have been created.In a way they have definitely brought on change with the new times and also exposed the need to have stringent policies and laws in the first place.

This started first in 2006 when there was a lot of noise regarding Facebook Newsfeed feature of the networking site and the concern that arose was that this endorsed stalking and also is an intrusion of privacy. The user had very little control over the information that they were sharing at the time, including changes in user's profile and other details related to them. This was resolved when Zuckerberg introduced privacy feature for the newsfeed and apologized for not taking into consideration the user's input when it came to privacy. Similarly, after three years and then consecutively since Facebook  was the reigning social networking site at the time, they introduced a series of changes thus constantly targeting the privacy of users.

Some of the other major events include :

2007 to 2009 - Facebook launched 'Beacon' which let its users who shop at third party websites broadcast their purchases to their friends on it. Facebook receives this third-party information and shares it unless user opt-out during a brief pop-up window at the third-party site. This received a lot of backlash where some organizations like MoveOn.org demanded that Facebook allow explicit opt-out from sharing this information. Later on, they did modify the privacy features of Beacon, giving users limited opt-ins. By almost the end of 2008, Facebook launched 'Social Ads' which let "marketers create Facebook profiles and purchase advertising targeting other users profile information. Further, a user’s name and picture will be shown to their friends in promotion of a product after that user interacts with the marketer in some way”. European expert group issued a guidance on how the user's privacy should be maintained and the information related to them should be handled. “Topics included processing of sensitive data and images, advertising and direct marketing, and data retention". Facebook announced changes in their user privacy settings but did not address the concern of user's data being shared with third-party via targeted advertisements. Canadian Privacy Commissioner also recommends that Facebook should improve on their privacy.

2010 to 2012 - Twitter joined Gmail and Facebook to use "https" functionality by default for all users in order to secure data and protect privacy. Facebook timeline changed their user privacy setting again to "post archived user information, making old posts available under Facebook's current downgraded privacy settings". It also came to light that DHS was using Facebook and Twitter for secret social network monitoring program. Maryland passed Bill that forbids employers from requesting Facebook information and California, Illinois followed suit as well. Myspace was caught engaging in deceptive practices and had to pay a settlement, since they were revealing personal information to third party despite promising to protect the same. Facebook also acquired Face.com which brought on a host of privacy concerns over biometric data of individuals.Towards the end of the year 2012,Facebook updated their privacy controls and removed profile safeguard from profiles. Instagram also released their changes around this time in terms of privacy policies which raised some more legal questions.

2013 to 2015 - Snapchat was investigated as they were still accumulating PII despite claiming that users could delete their videos and pictures forever, WhatsApp were questioned and complaints were raised regarding Facebook acquisition of the same. Facebook starts tracking user across the web without consent after policy changes.

2018 - Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal made huge news. Cambridge Analytica breached into the personal data of millions of people's Facebook profiles without their consent and used it for political advertising Facebook got a lot of flak for this scandal and Facebook had to take their privacy policies into new consideration to keep their company afloat and retain their consumers.

Laws regarding social networks
A lot of reforms have been done to address the privacy concerns including introducing laws to changing privacy policies of how social network platform should be maintaining to retain their customers. Below are the relevant laws related to social networking:

 * 1) Privacy Act of 1974 - "No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains", it also depends on 12 exceptions. This basically meant that companies at the time were not responsible for actually letting their consumers/any other agencies know that what kind of their personal information was being used until and unless there was a written request and or a written consent of the person, to disclose the same except under certain 12 conditions.  Some of these included providing this information to government agencies , if requested via court orders, for the benefit of health or safety if deemed important for an individual , law enforcement agency, debt collector's office, for statistical research, Freedom of Information Act , to name a few. These exceptions in the later run did become points where companies like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter could bypass and still use their user's profiles to target ads and sell their data to third party agencies as well as also become targets for stalking, abuse, social profiling and various other illegal acts.
 * 2) Employee and Student Privacy Protection Act - This holds back employers and educational institutions which have particular power over employees and students from making such demands. It allows employees and students to preserve the privacy of their personal online accounts. It was approved by Uniform Law Commission and is yet to be adopted by several state educational institutions as well as a few employers in the states where it has not yet been adopted.
 * 3) GDPR - General data protection and regulation Act was introduced in April 2016 and adopted in May 2018. This Act forces companies to improve the protection of their users’ data and to make it easier to understand what kind of data is being collected and for what purposes. They can be fined up to 4% of their global revenue or 20 million euros which is a hefty fine. Also, since companies collect data from everyone globally and this is applicable to European Union citizens explicitly, companies get their privacy policies compliant to GDPR rules for everyone. This is a win for consumers as their personal data is liable to be protected, have more privacy and also be informed if their personal information has been involved in a  data breach. More details of GDPR can be found in the section of Privacy and Data Protection, in this chapter.
 * 4) CCPA - California Consumer Privacy Act went into effect on Jan 1, 2020. This was created to curb the companies to collect personal information like birthday, phone numbers ,email addresses and other data. Social media giants like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and others have to comply with this and accordingly update their privacy policies to keep their consumers especially in California, notify them on what information is being used and possibly allow to opt-out from sharing the same to third party networks. More about CCPA is also mentioned in the section of Privacy and Data Protection, in this chapter.
 * 5) COPPA - The United States' Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs the gathering of personal data from children under the age of 13. Before collecting data from minors, businesses must get approval from the parents.
 * 6) LGPD - A Brazilian legislation called the Lei Geral de Proteço de Dados (LGPD) governs the gathering, exploitation, and processing of personal data. It offers people the right to access and delete their data and mandates that corporations acquire authorization before collecting or processing personal data.
 * 7) PIPEDA - The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), a Canadian legislation, governs how personal information is collected, used, and disclosed in the private sector. It guarantees people the right to access and update their personal information and mandates that businesses acquire consent before collecting personal information.
 * 8) HIPAA - The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a US statute, controls how personal health information is used and shared. Patients are given the right to access and manage their health information, and healthcare practitioners and organizations are required to put measures in place to preserve patient privacy.
 * 9) ECPA - The US law known as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) governs the intercepting and sharing of electronic communications. Before accessing electronic communications, like as emails and text messages, government agents must acquire a warrant.
 * 10) Privacy Shield - Personal data can be transferred from the European Union to the United States under the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement. It offers EU residents the ability to access and update their personal data and imposes rigorous data protection rules on US businesses.

How to stay aware
The following actions may be taken to maintain your privacy when using social networking sites:

 * 1) Read the privacy policies:  Read and comprehend the privacy rules of the social networking sites you use in detail. Find out more about the handling, sharing, and collection of your personal data.
 * 2) Adjust your privacy settings: You can manage who may view your information and activities by adjusting the privacy settings on most social networking sites. To ensure that they haven't been altered without your awareness, check these settings frequently and adjust them to your comfort level.
 * 3) Use two-factor authentication: Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection by requiring a different form of identification in addition to your password, such as a text message or authentication app.
 * 4) Take care with what you share: Before posting private information, images, or videos on social networking sites, give it some thought. Think about the audience for your postings and the potential applications of your data.
 * 5) Follow up on your accounts: Check your social networking accounts frequently for any illicit activity or updates to your information or settings.
 * 6) Stay up-to-date: Follow news and advancements around privacy and social networking sites to stay current. Consider reading reliable news sources and participating in privacy and security-related workshops or webinars.

Overall, maintaining an awareness of privacy issues and social networking sites calls for taking the initiative and making a commitment to consistently reviewing and modifying your settings and behavior.

Conclusion
In conclusion, since social networking sites first emerged, privacy has been a big worry. Despite the fact that these platforms have taken steps to allay these worries, including putting in place privacy measures and user permission requirements, there continue to be issues with data collecting, third-party access, cyberbullying, and deepfake technology. Many nations have put in place different rules and regulations to safeguard user privacy online in order to allay these worries. Users need to be aware of these privacy issues and take precautions to secure their personal information online as social networking sites continue to play a large role in our lives. In the next section, one can read about how privacy is impacted by Internet of Things.


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Information Technology and Ethics/Privacy and Health Care

Introduction
Three significant ideas are regularly utilized in the assurance of healthcare data inside the United States medicinal services framework: classification, protection, and security. However, every one of these ideas has an alternate vital significance and one-of-a-kind job. The most important part of health care records is privacy. Healthcare records contain detailed information about the patient’s medical history to his data. The protection and security of patients’ healthcare data is a top need for patients and their families, medical insurance companies, and experts. Government laws require a significant number of people and associations that can handle health care data and can also provide security, ensuring the privacy of patients’ health care data regardless of whether it is put away on paper or electronically.

In the USA, most now and again, “HIPAA” rings a bell when medical records security is concerned with “The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996”. It was passed as the internet was becoming a larger presence in everyday life. It sought to enable the transfer of medical records from paper to electronic data. HIPAA is responsible for privacy, security, and breach notifications about healthcare data. The Privacy Rule gives rights regarding healthcare data, which was developed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to protect the confidentiality of personal health information. The HIPAA also allows patients to the constraint on how their healthcare data can be used, and the security rule offers patients the freedom to choose and know how their medical records must be kept secure with authoritative, specialized, and physical protections. The patients must consent in order to disclose personal health information through a contract. The patients may have extra insurance and medical records rights under their State’s laws. There are likewise federal laws that secure health care records.

Why privacy in health care is important
Health care research and security assurances both give significant advantages to society. Medical research is crucial to improving human health and medicinal services. Protecting patients engaged with the study and saving their privileges is a fundamental moral duty. The necessary legitimation for securing individual privacy is to ensure the interests of people in providing their data for research. Patients must provide their medical data for further study; it can drastically speed up the research process and will be very beneficial to society. Simultaneously, clinical research can profit people; for instance, it encourages access to new treatments, improved diagnostics, and increasingly compelling approaches to forestall disease.

Without medical privacy, patients may avoid needed healthcare and physicians may not enter important information into the patient's records. Medical records contain sensitive information about every individual that could be used to negatively affect a person’s life. This includes fertility, abortions, substance/physical abuse, STDs, etc. Access to such information can damage a person’s reputation which can permanently affect their lives. Our medical records also contain mundane content such as height, weight, or if any bones were ever broken. Physicians need access to our complete medical records to provide an accurate diagnosis. Without an accurate diagnosis, patients may pay for an expensive treatment that was unnecessary or be given the incorrect medicine for a disease.

What includes in privacy
Securing data gathered with the consideration of the patient is a fundamental belief in social insurance. Protecting different structures is an essential key to trust. Enhanced privacy includes various angles, including personal space (physical security), individual information (enlightening protection), own decisions including social and strict affiliations (decisional protection), and personal associations with relatives and different lingerie (associational security).

Doctors must look to ensure privacy protection in all settings to the best degree conceivable and should:
 * (a) Minimize outsider interruption in health care records.
 * (b) Inform the patient if there has been a breach, which can affect the patient directly or indirectly.
 * (c) Be careful that singular patients may have exceptional worries about security in any of these zones.

Protecting health care information can be broken down into three concepts:
 * Privacy: Protecting one’s privacy is essential and the patient has the right to keep their medical record confidential.
 * Confidentiality: Selective control of sharing personal health information to a care provider or guardian under an agreement that limits what information may be released.
 * Security: Policies and principles that help maintain the integrity and availability of information access.

Ways to Protect Health care information
As hackers have an assortment of techniques for breaking to medicinal services associations’ networks, health care IT divisions need to utilize a variety of devices to attempt to keep them out. In many cases, most firms spend a lot on edge security, for example, firewalls and antivirus programming, while specialists caution, they ought likewise to be embracing advancements that limit the harm when assaults do happen. Regardless of any ill will, the staff members are mostly involved in data breaches because of carelessness. Subsequently, all the IT security programs are dependable upon staff training, including Preparing on what does and doesn’t compromise a HIPAA infringement. Staff should be educated about phishing, social engineering, and different other attacks that target representatives, and also choose a very very very strong password.
 * (a) Ensure the system
 * (b) Train staff individuals for security
 * (c) Secure remote systems

Most of the Medical institutions are progressively depending on the remote operating system for their offices. Yet, sadly, those remote systems regularly present security to many vulnerabilities. Information can be taken by hacking into those systems, for instance, mainly if the association depends on obsolete technology, for example, if medical institutions utilize the very “Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security standard.” Hacking these systems will be a piece of cake for hackers.

The more information that is held by an association the more there is for hackers to take. Medical institutions should remove the redundant data, which is, at this point, not required or useful. Moreover, it consumes more energy and resources to routinely review the data that is not useful, so the association realizes what’s there and can recognize what might be erased. Even as electronic health records become progressively typical, the medical institution may keep a great deal of sensitive information on paper. Thus, suppliers must ensure entryways and file organizers are locked and secured, and cameras and other physical security controls are utilized. Moreover, associations should make sure about IT hardware by locking server rooms and using link locks or different gadgets to keep PC and workstations joined to office furniture.
 * (d) Erase pointless information
 * (e) Improve physical security controls

It is essential to get ready for the worst; there is very little probability that the associations can always forestall each conceivable IT security occurrence. That is the reason it’s essential to build up a game plan for when a break occurs.
 * (f) Incident Response plan

Conclusion
It is very clear from the above sections that most people want to protect their information; most of them want to live a very private life. Apart from it, there is a lot of data breach that happened in medical institutions, which leads patients to conceal compassionate information from doctors; as a consequence, they could not get a proper cure for their disease. So protecting health care information is not just about protecting the information from hackers. Keeping medical information secret encourages patients to provide detailed information about their medical condition. Protecting health information will also help patients to come forward and offer their medical records for further research, which can increase the standard of care in hospitals. By using the recommendation provided in this article, a lot of data breach attacks can be stopped from being successful. Patients want to provide their medical information, but due to a lack of privacy, they do not. If an exceptional level of privacy can be achieved in medical institutions, it can be very beneficial for the whole of humanity.


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Professionalism/Ikigai at Work

Introducution
is a Japanese concept that roughly translates to “a reason for being” or "something that gives life worth". The term comes from the combination of two Japanese words; iki meaning life or "the condition of being alive", and kai meaning a reason, value, or benefit. Although the concept is mainly used in Japan, it has recently gained exposure in other countries such as the United States. One popular English interpretation of Ikigai revolves around the combination of doing what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. Each of these four components are equally important in creating a sense of Ikigai under the English interpretation. Without one, the concepts breaks apart into something less holistic. For example, doing something that the worlds needs and something that you can be paid for would be considered a vocation under this interpretation.

Clinical psychologist Akihiro Hasegawa of Toyo Eiwa University claims that the term dates back to the Heian Period of Japan which spanned from 794 to 1185. Hasegawa also contends that the popular English interpretation is widely inaccurate. He states that many Japanese people do not associate Ikigai with making money or working at all. The Japanese interpretation of Ikigai more commonly revolves around factors such as personal and family health, intellectual activeness, and fulfilling social roles. While these factors can often include working in some sort of way, the concept of Ikigai for Japanese people is not directly related to work.

One of the most comprehensive and respected works dealing with Ikigai is Ikigai-ni-tsuite, or About Ikigai, written by Mieko Kamiya. In her book, Kamiya explains that the concept of Ikigai is very similar to happiness but has a subtle focus on looking towards the future. As a result, someone who is struggling towards a better life in the future can still be within a state of Ikigai even though they may be unhappy at the moment. Kamiya also breaks down Ikigai into two subcategories. The first is objects that make up one's Ikigai. This includes the various people, actions, or objects that directly relate to the feelings of Ikigai that one has. The second category is feelings regarding one's Ikigai object. One example using these two subcategories could be one's family and friends as an Ikigai object and a sense of existence and belonging as the feeling regarding this object.

Rajio Taiso
In Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles (2017), they examined how the people of Okinawa Japan exercise Ikigai to increase their life expectancy. Okinawans, who are known for their many centenarians, state that moving throughout the day, no matter how little, is essential for staying healthy. Garcia and Miralles contend that Rajio Taiso is a key component of Okinawans' daily movement.

Rajio Taiso roughly translates to "Radio Physical exercise" or physical exercise over the Radio. These Radio exercises were introduced in Japan in 1928 as a commemoration of emperor Hirohito’s coronation. The broadcasts consist of short warm-up exercises guided by music and radio hosts. Although the broadcasts were banned by occupying powers for being too militaristic in nature after Japan’s defeat in WW2, they were later reintroduced in 1951 after several reworks. Currently, these routines are used in the workplace at the beginning of the workday, in order to raise energy levels and encourage good health. Additionally, the group aspect of the exercises can help build moral and group unity among employees.

Nomikai
Nomikai can be roughly translated to "gathering to drink." Nomikais are drinking parties that are held by employers to mark various events from project completions, foundation anniversaries, retirements, etc. They are usually held in restaurants that have been partially rented out. Employees are expected to attend; however, they are not required to drink. Nomikai usually involve certain departments of a company, although larger full company parties can also take place.

The party doesn't stop there. After Nomikai, comes Nijikai. Nijikai is basically an after party where attendance is not required and is usually smaller groups of friends who want to keep socializing and drinking. Lastly there is Bonenkai. Bonenkai, or "gathering to forget the year", is the end of year Nomikai of a company where the goal is to forget any arguments or troubles that have occurred during the year and celebrate the coming year.

Overall, the purpose of these parties is to help build post-work relationships and camaraderie among employees in addition to celebrating events. Lastly, and probably most importantly, you must show up to work the next day. The excuse that you got too drunk at the party will not be accepted by your boss.

While the purported goal of the events is to build camaraderie, the practice has led to unhealthy behavior in many cases. Timinsky notes that salarymen began to engage in the practice regularly in the 1950s, and the practice led many to alcoholism, malnourishment, and sleep deprivation. The lifestyle of nightly drinking bouts among salarymen became so commonplace that drug companies marketed hangover drugs to these professionals by exploiting fears about hangovers and work.

Lifetime Hiring
Lifetime hiring is where Japanese companies and employees agree to an unofficial for life contract. Where the employee promises to devote themselves to the company and the company promises to try their best not to fire them.

Beginning in Japan around 1955, many Japanese firms started hiring their employees for life. Although this was not a legally binding contract for lifetime employment it came with certain expectations. The employer expected that the new hire would devote their time and loyalty to the company while the hire would expect the employer to take all measures possible to avoid firing or laying off employees. As a result, employees hired under the unofficial lifetime employment practice could feel a sense of economic security and trust with their employer.

Simultaneous College Recruiting
is a Japanese custom where companies look to hire new college or high school graduates all at once and begin their employment at a collective start date. One goal of this custom is to help new hires adjust to the workforce by surrounding them with people of a similar age and experience level. Paired with lifetime employment practices, SCR allows employees to build deep and lifelong relationships with their peers, increasing their productivity and satisfaction within the workplace.

Ikigai and Working Conditions
It has been shown that having an Ikigai can increase quality of life and even reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Companies have implemented Ikigai practices to capitalize on increased productivity and success due to worker satisfaction. However, the companies may also implement the practices to distract workers from the poor working conditions to which they are subject.

Japanese professionals work longer hours and more overtime hours than many other countries. A survey by Matthews found that while work is often at the center of Japanese society, "very few informants, even the most successful, seemed to find profound satisfaction in work". According to a poll of 451 Japanese professionals, over 54% of them "often" work overtime hours. Studies have shown that those workers who work more overtime hours are more susceptible to cardiovascular problems.

Japanese workers are reluctant to use paid vacation days. In 2018, it was found that only 52% of professionals used all of their paid vacation, and many had multiple unused days. A form of Groupthink occurs where employees see that their bosses and coworkers refuse to take vacation days, so they fear that taking days will cause their colleagues to think less of them.

An unfortunate consequence of the culture of overwork in Japan is, or death from overwork. Numerous professionals have been lost by Karoshi since the first official case in 1969. One such case was that of Matsuri Takahashi, a 24 year-old worker at Dentsu, Inc. During her eight months at Dentsu, she logged hundreds of overtime hours. She began making disturbing posts on social media and committed suicide shortly after. Miwa Sado was a 31 year-old political journalist who died from heart failure in July 2013. In the previous month, she had logged 159 hours of overtime. In 2005, Shunichi Araki, the President of the National Institute of Industrial Health, wrote an article that recognized the connection between overwork, brain and heart diseases and death, and made suggestions for the Japanese government to reduce the occurrence of overwork. The Japanese government has created legislation to decrease overwork, but some argue that more must be done.

In the 1970s, Japanese public transportation could not meet the growing demand due to economic growth. Oshiyas, or, were hired to pack as many commuters as possible into each train car at rail stations. The rail cars regularly reach two to three times the designed capacity. Publications have described the experience as uncomfortable, but the situation can become dangerous, as it did in a case where a window broke from the pressure due the packed cabin.

Tanshin funin, which translates to "bachelor husband," is the practice of living in away from one's family to live closer to one's business and to focus more effectively on one's work. These professionals may only see their families on weekends or holidays. Studies have shown that professionals who engage in Tanshin funin are more susceptible to heart disease and common illnesses, drink alcohol in higher quantities, and are generally more stressed than those who abstain from the practice.

title: Professionalism/Ikigai at Work