Guess What: Some Big Companies Actually Want More Privacy Regulation
photo: AP Images
The Obama administration made official its call for a comprehensive privacy law today, and there are signals that industry support for such… Read more »
FTC Slaps Ad Network For Deceptive Privacy Policy, Puts Industry On Notice
photo: Corbis / Stanley Eales
There may well be action on Capitol Hill this year in online privacy, with bills being introduced by members of both parties. But the Federa… Read more »
Microsoft Steps Up Privacy Protections, Puts New Pressure On Google, Apple
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has been promoting its “Tracking Protection Lists” in the new version of Internet Explorer as the best route for user… Read more »
In Wikileaks-Related Case, Court Says Twitter-Account Info Isn’t Private
photo: wikileaks.org
Last year, as part of a broad web offensive against Wikileaks, U.S. government lawyers filed court papers seeking information about several… Read more »
Just How Many Opt-Ins Will European Web Surfers Have To Wade Through?
photo: flickr / Logan Ingalls
A new European Union directive will require websites to get consent of users every time information gets stored on their computers, and now… Read more »
Supreme Court: AT&T Doesn’t Have ‘Personal Privacy’ Rights
photo: Flickr / NontrivialMatt
A conservative majority of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts held last year that a corporation has similar free-speech righ… Read more »
Facebook To Move Ahead With Plan To Let App Makers Get User Phone Numbers
Last month, Facebook rolled out a plan to share users’ addresses and phone numbers with third-party app developers, as long as users consent… Read more »
Fear Of ‘Firesheep’: Senator Asks Twitter, Amazon To Increase Web Security
photo: treehouse1977
A year ago, if your site wasn’t using a web security protocol called HTTPS, the only folks likely to complain were tech-savvy consumer activ… Read more »
How A Minor Google Screwup Turned Into A Privacy Freakout
photo: Corbis / Jane Marinsky
To get a sense of how overheated the debate over online privacy is becoming, consider the trajectory of a conspiracy-minded article publishe… Read more »
Microsoft Privacy Proposal Includes ‘Do Not Track’ Header
photo: Javier Aroche / Flickr
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is putting its support behind another browser privacy feature. The submission the company has made to the World Wide… Read more »
Google Runs Into New Privacy Objections In Europe Over Street View
photo: Robert Andrews
Europeans have a much broader view of privacy law than Americans, and Google’s Street View, generally accepted in the U.S., continues to run… Read more »
The FBI Wants Tech Companies To Help Make Wiretapping Easier
photo: flickr / A. Strakey
From the just-extended Patriot Act to warrantless wiretapping, in many ways it’s easier than ever for law enforcement agencies to engage in… Read more »
Big Banks To FTC: New Online Privacy Rules Shouldn’t Apply To Us
photo: Corbis / Stanley Eales
If you had to bet on a website that will be crushed by traffic demands this week, you might bet on ftc.gov. The Federal Trade Commission has… Read more »
Three Reasons Why A ‘Do Not Track’ Bill Will Pass In 2011
photo: Corbis / Jane Marinsky
On Friday, U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) introduced the first Do Not Track privacy proposal, and other such bills are on the way. At fi… Read more »
Microsoft: It’s Naive To Trust Tracking Sites To Obey Anti-Tracking Orders
Updated with news from Microsoft’s IE9 launch today in San Francisco.
When it comes to online privacy, the two leading browser companies,… Read more »
FTC Commissioner: If Companies Don’t Protect Privacy, We’ll Go To Congress
photo: Corbis / Stanley Eales
As the FTC gathers comments on its proposed privacy rules, including a “Do Not Track” proposal, FTC Commissioner Julie Brill told a crowd of… Read more »
Firefox Takes Unusual Approach In Unveiling ‘Do Not Track’ Option
For all the talk among among policymakers and the press about online privacy, it still isn’t clear how much average consumers are even aware… Read more »
Guess What? Your Tweets Aren’t Private Unless They’re Private
File under “duh”…
The UK newspaper business, via its self-regulator the Press Complaints Commission, has effectively raised the middle fi… Read more »
Get Ready For A Flurry Of New Online-Privacy Bills In Congress
Legislators in the House and the Senate are now practically falling over each other to introduce new online-privacy legislation. Congression… Read more »
Congress Grills Zuckerberg On Plans To Share User Addresses, Cell Numbers
Last month, Facebook told developers they’d be able to get users’ current address and mobile-phone numbers. Even though the feature would ha… Read more »
New Study Shows Persistence Of ‘Flash Cookies’
photo: Corbis / Jane Marinsky
The tracking uses of so-called “Flash cookies,” the data packets stored in the computers of users of Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) Flash Player, starte… Read more »
Google Reaches Deal With State AGs Over WiFi Data Breach
photo: flickr / montuno
Last month, it looked like Google (NSDQ: GOOG) was at an impasse with Connecticut state authorities over what kind of data it would hand ove… Read more »
Facebook Beefs Up Site Security, At Long Last
photo: Tetra Images / Corbis
Facebook will start allowing users to do all their social networking via HTTPS connections-also known as SSL encryption, the most widely use… Read more »
Survey: Location Services Have Die-Hard Fans, But Privacy Is A Big Issue
photo: US Geological Survey / Corbis
One of the big selling points for consumers deciding to upgrade their feature-phones to smartphones is “location-based services,” like maps… Read more »
The Real Privacy Threat Is From Offline (Not Online) Marketers
Andrew Pancer is COO of the social ad-targeting company Media6Degrees. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Digital Development for the N… Read more »
Justice Department Wants ISPs To Turn Over More User Data
There’s a vigorous privacy debate in Washington, spurred by the Federal Trade Commission and others, that is questioning whether internet co… Read more »
Mozilla, Google Take Different Paths Towards Privacy Protection
Three of the four major browser companies now have proposals on the table that respond to the government’s call to create better online priv… Read more »
The Morning Lowdown 01-24-11
photo: Corbis / Patricia Curi
» Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) had an interesting weekend, which served to distract from last week’s news about CEO Steve Jobs taking an in… Read more »
AT&T Case Shows Supreme Court Isn’t Big On Privacy Rights For Companies
photo: flickr / dbking
A year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court granted extraordinary “free speech” rights to corporations, when it ruled (in the Citizens United v. Fede… Read more »
Apple And Jobs: The Privacy Debate Begins In Earnest
Steve Jobs’ announcement about his medical leave of absence — and its decided lack of detail about the reason for it — has very quickly se… Read more »
Adobe To Simplify Flash Player’s Privacy Controls
photo: Adobe
Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) is moving to address concerns, raised by the Federal Trade Commission and privacy advocates, about potential privacy loop… Read more »
Supreme Court Health Data Case Could Sway Online Privacy Debate
The Supreme Court has announced it will hear Sorrell v. IMS Health, a case relating to the sale of health data. Though not obvious at first… Read more »
Interview: Scott Kamber On His ‘Spate’ Of Lawsuits Over Internet Privacy
The ad agency interclick took an unusual tactic in defending itself this week against recent lawsuits alleging the company and its customers… Read more »
Apple And App Makers Hit With Lawsuit Over Shared Consumer Info
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has been slapped with a class action lawsuit that accuses the company and several prominent app makers of sharing users’… Read more »
Firefox Designer: New Feature Will Expose Sites With Weak Privacy Policies
Another sign that browser companies are toying with new ideas for beefing up privacy protection: Mozilla has released a set of icons that ar… Read more »
FTC’s New Chief Technologist Lays Out The Limits Of ‘Do Not Track’
photo: flickr / Joe Hall
There’s already been plenty of speculation about what the Federal Trade Commission’s “Do Not Track” proposal will mean for online publishers… Read more »
Mozilla CEO: ‘Do Not Track’ Option Will Be In Firefox 4
First Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), and now Mozilla. One by one, web browser companies are revealing their plans for beefed-up privacy settings. Read more »
DirecTV, Starcom In Targeted TV Ad Pact
DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) has struck a deal with Starcom MediaVest to test targeted TV ads next fall, according to The Wall Street Journal. The te… Read more »
It’s Hard To Opt Out Of Behavioral Targeting? Really? Our Experiment
photo: Corbis / Jane Marinsky
The Federal Trade Commission’s recent report on privacy offered a pretty damning indictment of the ad industry’s efforts to give consumers a… Read more »
Google Rebuffs Connecticut AG’s Demand For Street View Data
photo: flickr / montuno
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has been a vocal critic of Google (NSDQ: GOOG) on privacy issues. Now that he’s about repres… Read more »
