When it comes to tracking web users across the web, no one does it more than Google and Facebook. Those two companies filled out the top five spots in Evidon's Global Tracker Report, which was released on Tuesday. The report uses data from the 1.6 million users of Evidon's Ghostery web browser plugin, which monitors what tracking scripts/tags/etc. are installed on web pages. Evidon's data shows that Google products are Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 8 (DoubleClick), as well as No. 17 overall (AdWords). Facebook, meanwhile, has the 3rd and 5th most-prolific trackers. (Image via PC World) It s [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Facebook: Privacy | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News

Governments that had previously closed the book on Street View privacy investigations appear to be considering "round two," in the wake of the FCC report that asserted that the personal data collected was not inadvertent but intentional. Privacy regulators in both the UK and Australia are now considering reopening Street View privacy cases that were previously closed. Several other European nations had concluded similar investigations with either no penalties or relatively minor fines assessed against Google. Those generally favorable outcomes for Google were largely based on earlier sta [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: International | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Google: Street View | Legal: Privacy | Top News

Google's CEO Larry Page made an apperance on Charlie Rose yesterday, and he didn't have many nice things to say about Facebook.  Rose asked Page about Facebook's competition in search which led to an exchange about Facebook's semi-closed policy on contact information. Page was quick to point out that Facebook users are not aware that they are inputting information in that they can't take out.  Additionally, Page went on to say that this policy was unfortunate and that Facebook may be forced to share this in the near future. In regards to working with Facebook?  The Google CEO st [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Facebook | Facebook: Privacy | Google | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News

Google is reportedly negotiating with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to determine the fine it will pay for bypassing the privacy settings on Apple's Safari web browser. That's according to a Bloomberg report that cites a "person familiar with the matter." Bloomberg's source says that Google could face a fine of "tens of millions of dollars." Back in February, the Wall Street Journal revealed how Google was getting around Safari's privacy settings so that it could make its +1 buttons work on advertisements in Safari. In doing so, the company may have violated the terms of its Google B [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Safari | Channel: Content Marketing | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News

Bloomberg reports that the Street View WiFi eavesdropping investigation by the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) against Google has now been officially closed after Google agreed to pay $25,000. On April 13, the FCC proposed a $25,000 fine against Google for “willfully and repeatedly” not cooperating with its investigation. There was no finding of legal liability against Google however. The $25,000 fine was more an expression of frustration and displeasure by the FCC. Google rebuked the FCC in a filing yesterday that argued it had responded appropriately and in good faith t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Privacy | Google: Street View

Google doesn't want to divulge information? Why not post it on Google+? That was one of several zingers Daily Show host Jon Stewart had when recapping how the US Federal Trade Commission wants to fine Google for not cooperating in an investigation over wifi eavesdropping done by Google Street View cars. After watching a recap of the news, Stewart gets in a two-fer against Google and Facebook: "Google, I am shocked. You stole people's personal information without their permission? That’s Facebook’s job." After another news recap on how Google didn't want to divulge the nam [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Top News

The FTC could move quickly to fine Google for bypassing the default privacy settings in Apple's Safari web browser. An article in today's San Jose Mercury News confirms an earlier Wall Street Journal report that the FTC is investigating Google's actions, and added that a fine could be levied within the next 30 days. At issue is whether Google violated its Google Buzz privacy settlement, part of which included Google promising not to misrepresent its privacy practices to consumers. Because the FTC is investigating the Safari cookie issue as part of a previous agreement, the Mercury News s [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News

The US Federal Communications Commission has cleared Google of any legal wrong-doing over its Street View cars that intercepted wifi transmissions. That's the good news for the company. The bad news? The FCC is fining Google $25,000 for "willfully and repeatedly" not cooperating with the investigation. The StreetView Wifi Eavesdropping In 2010, it was discovered that Google's Street View cars were doing more than just taking pictures. They were also gathering information about wifi locations, meant in part as a way for Google to better locate people using services such as Android phones or s [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Google: Street View | Top News

Google has come under fire over the past year from anti-trust issues to privacy questions. But has this questioning by the mainstream media, bloggers and politicians had an impact on people in general? A new survey finds that 63.4% in the US who use the internet trust Google as much as a year ago, climbing to an overall trust factor 78.4%, when those who said they trust it more are added in. The survey? My own, using Google's new Google Consumer Surveys service. While I have some issues with the service (see Is Google Letting Anyone Do "Scientific" Surveys A Good Thing?), it seemed perfect [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Business Issues | Google: Consumer Surveys | Google: Privacy | Statistics: General | Statistics: Popularity & Usage | Top News

I liked Al Franken as a comedian. I liked the idea of him becoming a US Senator. I definitely like the idea that he wants to defend Americans from potential privacy problems. But I don't like that he sounds like an uneducated senator of old. Case in point: his recent speech to the American Bar Association attacking Google and raising worries about internet privacy. Let's do some debunking. Franken gave a speech last night to the American Bar Association's anti-trust section, The Verge reports. The also have a copy of his speech here. I'll go through the key parts pertaining to internet priv [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Facebook | Facebook: Legal | Features & Analysis | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News

I wouldn't want to be a lawyer in Google's legal department. Every move Google makes these days is scrutinized by governments, regulators and NGOs. Almost weekly there are new lawsuits and new investigations. According to a Bloomberg report, last week France’s data protection authority asked Google to answer 69 questions concerning Google's new privacy policy and its use of consumer data to determine whether they violate European data protection rules. Google has been given an April 5 deadline to respond. France is "taking the lead" on behalf of European regulators who had asked Google [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Privacy | Legal: General | Legal: Privacy

According to the Wall Street Journal, US and European regulators are now formally investigating the facts and circumstances behind "Cookiegate," the circumvention of default privacy settings on the iPhone's Safari browser by Google. When the practice was discovered or revealed in an article in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year it was discontinued by Google. At the time Google put out a statement, arguing it was merely delivering the experience that its users had already signed-in to receive, and that it wasn't some sort of nefarious plot: The Journal mischaracterizes what happened [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy

Rick Falkvinge, the founder of the Swedish political party the "Pirate Party," formed six years ago around issues related to intellectual property, blogged about an experience of attending a seminar on privacy at the European Parliament in Brussels. The seminar was put on by Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace, which is funded by Microsoft. The subject of the seminar was "privacy, big data, profiling, and online identities." Falkvinge was unaware of the group's funding and ties to Microsoft. He expressed indignation upon discovering the session was essentially about attacking G [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google | Google: Business Issues | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Business Issues

"I don't think they were ever not evil," I'm quoted as saying about Google in a New York Times column yesterday. True enough, I said that. But I wanted to provide some further context about my comments as well as the truly disastrous two months Google has had on the public relations front. In Google Many Still Trust Make no mistake. Most of Google's users clearly trust the company to keep using its products. The hoopla about its forthcoming changes to its privacy policy? Despite being blown way out of proportion by politicians and media outlets alike, there's no mass movement to abandon Go [...]

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It's not just the U.S. federal government that has concerns with Google's new privacy policy. Three dozen state attorneys general want to meet with Google "as soon as possible" to discuss the company's privacy changes -- changes that are due to take effect on March 1st. In a letter to Google CEO Larry Page, the attorneys general say they have "strong concerns" with Google's "troubling" new privacy policy. Until now, users of Google's many products could use different products in different ways, expecting that information they provide for one product, such as YouTube, would not be sy [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News

Google's been taking fire for Microsoft accusing it of overriding Internet Explorer privacy controls. But Google's now out with a response: the controls are out-dated, "impractical" to follow and ignored by other companies besides Google, including Facebook, some of Microsoft's own sites and over 10,000 others. I'm on vacation this week, so I won't be doing a deep dive into all of this, though someone else from Marketing Land will in the near future. For now, I'll just share a few short comments along with the full statement that Google sent us about the issue. Not The Same As The Safari B [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Internet Explorer | Microsoft: Privacy | Top News

More trouble for Google today on the privacy front: Just days after revelations that Google is ignoring privacy settings on Apple's Safari web browser, Microsoft says Google is doing the same thing with Internet Explorer. Microsoft shares its findings in a blog post this morning: When the IE team heard that Google had bypassed user privacy settings on Safari, we asked ourselves a simple question: is Google circumventing the privacy preferences of Internet Explorer users too? We’ve discovered the answer is yes: Google is employing similar methods to get around the default privacy protecti [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Internet Explorer | Microsoft: Privacy

From the you-could-see-it-coming-a-mile-away department: U.S. lawmakers, privacy watchdogs and consumer protection groups want Google to explain why it's been bypassing user privacy settings on Apple's Safari web browser. The story surfaced late last night in the Wall Street Journal, and has spread quickly -- not surprisingly, considering the long-running discussion about Google and privacy and, more recently, the company's new privacy policy that's due to take effect on March 1st. US Congress Gets Involved Politico is reporting this morning that US lawmakers -- who've already been o [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News

Earlier this month, Google did a post to bust myths that it felt were being spread about the company regarding privacy. First on the list was from an ad run against Google by FairSearch. Google even later updated its post to say the FairSearch ad had been pulled as  "inaccurate." As it turns out, the ad wasn't pulled as Google claimed, even though I'd agree it was inaccurate. It's been quite the bouncing ball I've had to follow in order to clear all this up. Come along, and I'll explain what happened. Google's Myth Busting Post Here's the original Google post: The arrow marked 1 point [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Features & Analysis | Google: Legal | Google: Marketing | Google: Privacy | Top News

The Wall Street Journal is out with a story about how Google has been "bypassing the privacy settings of millions of people" who use Apple's Safari web browser, along with a headline about "Google's iPhone tracking." More accurately, Google's been bypassing Safari's default privacy settings that block certain types of cookies rather than overriding what people specifically set. But that still doesn't make the revelation less of a body blow to Google's reputation. By default, Safari doesn't accept "third-party cookies." The Wall Street Journal reveals that Google found a way around this. Goo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Features & Analysis | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News