Online Privacy: The Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) And The FTC
Online privacy concerns seem to be a very active topic in recent weeks, particularly the practice of Behavioral Targeting (BT).
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Do Not Track - Not For Me
I finished my undergraduate degree as the Internet boom started to hit its stride, but after several entrepreneurs had already started and sold companies for tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. When I started...
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Canada Stands Up to Google
Google Maps’ Street View feature has caused some buzz since its debut in May. Much of the buzz has been negative, with countless publications and Web sites finding bizarre and disturbingly private images available on Street View.
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Google to Shorten Shelf Life of Stale Cookies
On Monday morning, Google’s Global Privacy Counsel, Peter Fleischer, made a post on Google’s official blog. The topic at hand concerned cookies and Google’s new stance on the issue. Though it’s hardly drastic in nature, it is a...
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Irresponsible Marketing Hurts Trust
There are many factors that cause U.S. consumers from completing online purchases, and unwanted marketing is a big part of it. Though identity theft is the primary concern, spam and uninvited phone calls and mail are also big...
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Privacy Drama For Google
Privacy International, a company founded in 1990 and based in London, recently released a report that ranked Google last place among Internet companies in terms of privacy. None of the companies scored highly, but...
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Consumers Too Careless Online
Two separate studies released earlier this week came to the same conclusion: Web users are too casual and absentminded when it comes to their personal security online.
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MySpace Makes A Statement
Those in the Web 2.0 world know Michael Arrington. The affiliate world has no direct equivalent, but one of its larger than life personalities, Jon F***** (he doesn’t like his last named shared), founder of Wicked Fire Forums, had site...
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Malware and Spam Thrives in U.S. and China
According to a recent report titled "Security Threat Report 2007" released by Sophos, an IT security firm, the U.S. and China host the most sites containing malware and relay the most spam.
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Personal Service and Privacy
According to a new survey called "Personalization Survey" released by ChoiceStream, it seems that consumers are warming up to the idea of exchanging personal information for an enhanced, more personal...
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Antispyware Company Settles for $1M
You know you’re living in a scary world when you have to watch out for spyware and antispyware companies, and that seems to be precisely the world we live in.
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FTC Raises Fist Against ERG Ventures
About a week after Zango settled with the Federal Trade Commission for $3 million concerning its adware installation procedures, the FTC has its eyes set on a similar battle with ERG Ventures and Timothy P. Taylor, one of its...
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Zango Settles for $3 Million
Last Friday, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Zango Inc., an Internet adware company, had agreed to pay a $3 million settlement to the U.S. government in response to assertions that it had covertly installed pop-up ad...
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Italy and Microsoft Unite Against
On Monday, Italy became the first European nation to agree to implement an anti-child-porn system developed by Microsoft. Both Italy and Microsoft believe that the rest of the continent will soon follow suit.
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MySpace, Seventeen Team Up in the Name of Safety
Social networking giant MySpace is teaming up with Seventeen magazine, the National School Board Association (NSBA), and the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) to publish and distribute materials concerning...
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AOL Fallout Continues
On Monday it was revealed that AOL’s chief technology officer, Maureen Govern, had resigned from her post in the aftermath of the company’s privacy mishap. The researcher who posted the data online and the researcher’s...
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AOL Embarrasses Themselves and Their Users
“This was a screw up, and we’re angry and upset about it,” said AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein in a statement apologizing for the release of sensitive query logs earlier this week. What AOL needs to worry about now is...
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Google Desktop 3 Creates Privacy Concerns
Google’s new beta version of its Google Desktop 3 allows users to transfer information from one computer to another, essentially allowing them “access to anything from anywhere,” as Gartner analyst Allen Weiner put it. In order to utilize this service, users must agree to allow Google to store the data on their servers for no more than 30 days.
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Digital Thoughts - Extra Credit Part 2
The idea behind credit and a credit score is a good one. It means a reduced reliance on cash and a way for consumers to leverage their past behavior. For lenders it means having a tool to help gauge an applicant’s loan worthiness. The credit...
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Digital Thoughts - Extra Credit
There exists one thing that follows us around wherever we go, impacts our adult life at all phases, yet we have little to no access to it, little idea how it gets measured, and little control over it. Three companies control it, one of whom just...
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Can Advertising-Biased Search Sites Take Lessons In Trust From Privacy Fundamentals?
Travel Web sites help customers search for great fares -- but not always the cheapest ones. When they display the results of a fare search, many of the most popular sites leave the most prominent positioning to the products and services of the highest bidders.
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Digital Thoughts - Privacy month for California
January should be called Privacy month for California residents. More than a few new laws came into affect dealing with consumer privacy protection and rights
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January 2005 Tech Tip
SB 27 requires companies that do business with California consumers and share personal information with third parties, for marketing purposes, must provide consumers with a designated contact point where they can request an Information-Sharing Disclosure Notice.
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