Bloomberg is at the center of a storm over its reporters’ use of the company’s terminals to track customers. The incident has been somewhat overblown — but the underlying issue of news and data platforms has not. Read more »
The flamboyant entrepreneur, who is facing extradition from New Zealand to the U.S. over copyright infringement allegations, plans to launch easy-to-use yet secure communications services. Read more at GigaOM »
As sites like Facebook work with data companies and advertisers to collect more of our personal information, tools like Disconnect may be our best hope of preserving privacy. The company just put out a major update that stops the data flow and lets you see what companies are tracking you. Read more at GigaOM »
Do you remember the huge controversy when people claimed Instagram wanted to sell your photos? In a court filing, Instagram reiterated a familiar refrain by social media companies that users can take or leave it when it comes to their policies. Read more at GigaOM »
Did you get a mysterious email from Facebook about a lawsuit? You’re eligible for some money but, alas, chances are the lawyers and privacy groups will keep it instead. Here’s the odds. Read more at GigaOM »
Facebook’s new social-graph search may look like a fairly boring feature of interest only to marketers, but the information it is able to reveal highlights how much we make public without even realizing it. Read more at GigaOM »
Google published its latest report about how often governments are asking for data about individuals. The growth of this type of surveillance means that Facebook should consider publishing a report of its own. Read more at GigaOM »
The sister of Facebook’s CEO got caught in a privacy snafu on Christmas Day after a private photo of her family was shared publicly. But this is about more than Facebook and its notoriously complicated settings — figuring out the boundaries of online privacy is not easy. Read more at GigaOM »
A law firm is trying to capitalize on recent outrage over Instagram’s changes to its terms of services. Despite media hype, the lawsuit has been described as “frivolous” and “flimsy” by social media law experts. Read more at GigaOM »
The media made a terrible error in identifying Ryan Lanza as the Sandy Hook shooter — a mistake amplified by social media. But while we may not be able to prevent these blunders happening elsewhere, we have to take responsibility for our own actions. Read more »
An old hoax has resurfaced that suggests Facebook users can tell the company what to do by posting a legal notice on their profile. Alas, it’s not true — your interactions with the company are governed by law and licenses, not your wishes. Read more at GigaOM »
An alarming story about a Senate plan to let federal agencies read your email turns out to have been a false alarm. Unfortunately, fears over online privacy mean such stories travel quickly — and that we’re likely to see the media crying wolf in the future. Read more at GigaOM »
In addition to occasional acts of journalism, Reddit is also known for its less savory content, including a page featuring creepy photos of women taken without their permission — and the controversy over that kind of content says a lot about the nature of the community. Read more at GigaOM »
After a judge blasted a proposed Sponsored Stories settlement that would have paid $10 million to lawyers and nothing to users, the company is back with a new offer. It calls for a $10 pay out but the fine print means that is unlikely to happen. Read more »
A French tabloid set off a temporary worldwide panic that Facebook had published the private messages of its users. France’s privacy regulator has now accepted the company’s explanation that this didn’t happen — but did blame Facebook for stirring up confusion. Read more at GigaOM »
Kids have always said bad things about teachers and gotten into trouble with their classmates. But today, it’s much easier for schools to overhear them by accessing a student’s Facebook account. One judge has put the brakes on this. Read more at GigaOM »
Twitter is fighting a major privacy case that will help determine who has rights in social media. Unfortunately, the case is before a judge who has been disciplined for misusing Facebook. His track record suggests that he is the very last person who should be deciding these issues. Read more at GigaOM »
Netflix is ready to pay $9 million to resolve a class action over keeping subscriber records too long. But now dozens of people are telling a judge not to approve the deal because they get none of the money. Read more at GigaOM »
Federal investigators viewed the Facebook profile of an alleged gangster in the Bronx by asking his informant “friend” to show it to them. A judge ruled this was not unconstitutional because Facebook users can’t control what other people do with the information they post. Read more at GigaOM »
Federal regulators confirmed a record-breaking fine related to Google’s use of advertising cookies to trick browsers and overcome default privacy settings. Read more at GigaOM »
Facebook wants a court to approve a deal that will see it pay $20 million to settle the ‘sponsored stories’ controversy. But now, as groups file objections, the judge is questioning whether the settlement’s blacked out financial figures can remain secret. Read more at GigaOM »
With peripheral inquiries ongoing in to conspiracy and media ethics, Tuesday’s announcement that Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and six others will be charged for “phone hacking” shows the News Of The World furore will soon finally focus on the original criminal allegations. Read more »
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has abruptly recused herself from a high-profile case in which Facebook had recently proposed to pay at least $10 million to settle accusations that it violated users’ privacy when it used their photos for “sponsored stories” without their permission. Read more »
There was a time when only people with money to hire a detective could dig into someone’s life. Now, dozens of companies have sprung up that will prowl into a person’s past for as little as $2. Read more »
Another day, another privacy payout. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Federal Trade Commission has assessed Google with a $22.5 million fine to settle claims that it hacked users’ iPhones in order to serve ads to them. Read more at GigaOM »
In a closely-watched case tied to last year’s Occupy Wall Street protests, a New York judge ruled that tweets are no different from words shouted in the street and ordered Twitter to turn over a user’s account to prosecutors. Read more at GigaOM »
LinkedIn will get to connect with a federal judges after an embarrasing security breach in early June. The social network for professionals has been hit with a class action seeking at least $5 million over an incident that exposed millions of passwords. Read more at GigaOM »
The technology industry is trapped in a cycle of privacy breaches and class action lawsuits that does nothing for the average internet user. The new Facebook settlement is just the latest example. Read more »
As promised, hactivist group Anonymous organized demonstrations on Saturday in 16 cities throughout India, protesting the governments Internet laws and the ISPs’ blocking of popular file-sharing sites. Protesters donned Guy Fawkes masks and amassed at cricket grounds and other outdoor landmarks from Chennai to Delhi. Read more at GigaOM »
It’s 2023, and here you are, 13 years old and finally ready for your own Facebook page! I’m sorry if my decision not to digitally document your life up to this point makes it tougher for you to be successful. But I hope you’ll thank me. Read more at GigaOM »
Facebook is said to be working on new features that would allow children under 13 to access the network. Is this a way of helping parents encourage their children to develop better online skills, or does it open kids up to privacy problems and other issues? Read more at GigaOM »
Lawyers tried to ruin Mark Zuckerberg’s big day with a sprawling lawsuit that portrays the Facebook founder as a rogue hacker, and accuses the company of tracking users on their computers and iPhones. We have a plain english Q&A. Read more at GigaOM »
The UK parliamentary committee’s report into whether it was misled over phone hacking makes conclusions including: “Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.” Read more »
Privacy is a bit like the weather — everyone talks about it but no one does a damn thing about it. Sure, it’s creepy that these companies track you and munch your personal information. But are you really going to ditch Facebook and every other online convenience of modern life? Read more »
The UK’s communications regulator has kicked off a week in which News Corp will again be hauled over the coals, by opening an inquiry in to email hacking at its Sky News channel. Read more »
Facebook is giving users the chance to download more of the information that it holds about them than ever before, but the small group of Austrian law students who forced the change say the social network is still holding back. Read more »
Europe and America have different views on freedom of speech and privacy. But with British and French legislators both challenging the idea… Read more »
Advertising companies like Facebook and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) are usually on the front line of the digital privacy debate. But in a long-await… Read more »
Clever Facebook. The social network has the media singing its praises as a civil rights champion on the same day that it shuffles its privac… Read more »
As America’s top privacy cop, the Federal Trade Commission is in the thick of balancing tech and privacy issues. In the last year, it has be… Read more »
