In the midst of the 2013 Google I/O developer conference currently being held in San Francisco, Google CEO Larry Page received a formal letter from eight-members of congress addressing Google Glass privacy issues. The letter from Congress outlined eight specific areas of concern, asking specifically: Does Google have plans to prevent Google Glass from unintentionally collecting data about the user/non-user without consent? (After referencing  Google's agreement to settle charges in 2010 for collecting information from encrypted wireless networks without permission.) What proactive st [...]

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

Digital privacy is a complex issue, little understood by the public. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), as part of its ongoing mission to educate the public, has released its third annual "Who's Got Your Back" privacy scorecard for Internet companies. Below is the 2013 scorecard. Compared with the previous two years (below), results appear to be improving overall. Twitter and ISP Sonic.net are the big winners with perfect scores. Dropbox, Google and LinkedIn also do well, while Apple, Amazon, AT&T, Verizon, MySpace (does it still exist?) and Yahoo essentially get failing grades [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Legal: Privacy | Twitter | Twitter: Legal

A recent survey conducted by the USC Annenberg Center for Digital Future and Bovitz Inc., revealed "Millennials" (those 18-35)  have a different attitude than Internet users 35 years and older when it comes to sharing their personal data online with businesses. While 70 percent of Millennials agreed with the statement, "No one should ever be allowed to have access to my personal data," 56 percent said they would share their location with a nearby company in return for a relevant coupon or promotional deal. Only 42 percent of users 35 years and older agreed they would share their location. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Facebook: Privacy | Google: Privacy | Internet Marketing Industry: Stats | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Privacy | Statistics: Online Behavior

It's an ongoing challenge for marketers: users say they don't like to be tracked, but they also say they prefer getting relevant ads and messages as they use the Web. This battle over data extends into several marketing areas -- search, social media, email and more. Part of this mix is third-party tools that get in the middle by letting users prevent websites from tracking their behavior. One such tool, Disconnect.me, just announced a substantial upgrade: The second version of its app -- an extension that works in Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers -- lets users see and block more than [...]

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

According to a recent Ars Technica article, two CMA Communications customers have reported banner ads being injected directly into webpages on popular websites, and they are blaming the ISP. Earlier this year, Robert Silvie and Zachary Henkel noticed banner ads running along the bottom of pages belonging to companies like Apple, Walmart, Target, Bing and eBay. Both Silvie and Henkel were using Internet service provider CMA Communications when they spotted the suspicious banner ads. Knowing that Bing didn't run commodity banner ads at the bottom of its home page, Silvie first thought it w [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Domaining | Legal: General | Legal: Privacy

When it comes to the issue of privacy, it seems that Google and Europe are on opposite sides of an ocean, metaphorically speaking. Reuters reports this morning that frustrated European authorities "plan to take action" against Google for its failure to satisfy them regarding its consolidated privacy policy. Google has maintained that its privacy policy conforms to all European laws and regulations. Privacy regulators from France and across Europe have heavily criticized the "consolidated" Google privacy policy and say it overreaches. However, they've stopped short of declaring it "illegal." [...]

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

The AP is reporting that a German court has invalidated a decision of the German privacy regulator, which opposes Facebook's real names/identities policy. Privacy regulators oppose the Facebook policy on the grounds that German and European privacy and free-speech rules prohibit a ban on fake names. However the court's decision is not based on German law. According to the AP report, "The administrative court in northern German Schleswig argued in its ruling Thursday that German privacy laws weren't applicable because Facebook has its European headquarters in Ireland - which has less far-rea [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Facebook: Business Issues | Facebook: Legal | Facebook: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News

It's been a week since Microsoft went on the attack against Gmail, launching its "Scroogled" campaign portraying Gmail as a privacy monster that reads your emails for ad targeting purposes. How's that been working out? To date, the Microsoft-backed petition against Gmail's practices has gained about over 6,000 signatures -- equal to about 0.002% of Gmail's user base. The Petition To Nowhere At the Scroogled site, Microsoft invites people to sign an online petition. In the week it has been up, it's gathered about 5,600 signatures: That's hardly an overwhelming response, especially consider [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Features & Analysis | Google: Business Issues | Google: Critics | Google: Gmail | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Business Issues | Microsoft: Outlook | Microsoft: Privacy | Top News

A bug at Flickr caused some people to have their private photos opened to public view over the past three weeks. Flickr said the bug only impacted a small number of users and only photos uploaded from April to December 2012. Flickr Quietly Tells Users Flickr made no post about this on its blog. Instead, yesterday, as one of the impacted users, Flickr sent me an email to politely let me know that hundreds of my private photos were opened to the public for a 20-day period recently. The email said Flickr had: Identified a software bug that may have changed the view setting on some of your phot [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Legal: Privacy | Top News | Yahoo: Flickr

If at first you don't succeed, get negative once again, seems to be the game plan at Microsoft. Having attacked Google Shopping with a "Scroogled" campaign last November, Microsoft is back again. This time it goes after Gmail as an evil service that invades your email privacy, armed with polling data showing consumer concern -- and perhaps one valid point about an easier opt-out. The Microsoft Survey & Consumer Disapproval Microsoft commissioned a survey of over 1,006 adults in the US from Feb. 1-4, asking about email services that target ads based on the content of your email. You kno [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Features & Analysis | Google: Business Issues | Google: Critics | Google: Gmail | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Business Issues | Microsoft: Outlook | Top News

Following its earlier report on privacy and mobile apps for kids, the FTC has released a sweeping report on mobile privacy in general. It's based on the Commission's work for several years, as well as a compilation of third party and stakeholder recommendations and proposed policies developed through FTC workshops. The report includes a host of detailed recommendations for each sector of the mobile ecosystem, including developers, ad networks and platform providers. The recommendations are framed as suggestions and aren't 'mandatory. However, the agency strongly implies that some of these [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Legal: Privacy | Mobile Marketing

Even as US lawmakers propose new digital privacy protections for consumers, the US looks like a libertarian fantasyland and regulation-free zone compared with Europe in the minds of tech companies. European regulators and governments are seeking to enact sweeping privacy rules that would place enormous compliance burdens on US-based Internet companies. As a result, the US government is standing beside Internet companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter and eBay, lobbying European regulators to dilute or weaken the proposed rules. The New York Times sums up what could be required of Interne [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Legal: Privacy

Coinciding with Data Privacy Day, Twitter has produced its second Twitter Transparency Report, and this version has expanded information about the various legal requests that come from the U.S. Twitter is also giving the report a new home at transparency.twitter.com. The statistics in this report are fairly consistent with Twitter's first transparency report last summer. The U.S. is still the biggest source of government information requests with 81 percent of all requests in the second half of 2012. (That figure was 80 percent for the first half of the year.) Overall, requests in the se [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Legal: Privacy | Twitter | Twitter: Legal

Two months after Microsoft introduced the same type privacy policy changes that Google did, and was attacked by the European Union over, the EU is finally getting around to questioning the Microsoft move. Microsoft's change happened on October 19. It was announced with little notice to consumers. Despite allowing for cross-platform sharing in the way privacy changes at Google allowed earlier this year, it attracted virtually no press attention nor that of regulators. In contrast, Google's change drew heavy attention the day it was announced and which continued on. Ten days after the anno [...]

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

Mark Zuckerberg initiated Facebook's purchase of Instagram back in April of this year. Today,  Instagram officially "friend-ed" Facebook in its privacy policy. The new updated privacy policy will allow the two social networks to share information between the two groups. These changes will take effect on  January 2013 and will allow Instagram to "share user content and your information" including cookie-data, location data, device data and more with Facebook owned companies. This change comes on the heels of Instagram cutting off access of its photos to Twitter, just weeks be [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Facebook | Facebook: Instagram | Facebook: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Top News

No longer will users be required to navigate through both account & privacy settings pages to manage  sensitive Facebook information. The social networking giant is releasing a series of features that simplifies privacy controls thanks to new tools, a centralized settings page and simple privacy shortcuts. Facebook's privacy has come under fire legally and competitively with the ease of Google+'s selected sharing and straightforward privacy. The new changes being implemented by Facebook will make privacy an elementary procedure for users. Better Privacy Controls & Shortcuts T [...]

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In February 2012 the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a study of privacy and mobile apps for kids. The study concluded that parents weren't given enough information in the app stores to properly evaluate privacy practices. At the time the FTC issued some recommendations for app developers, as well as Apple and Google: All members of the "kids app ecosystem" – the stores, developers and third parties providing services – should play an active role in providing key information to parents. App developers should provide data practices information in simple and short disclosu [...]

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

A new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that most US parents are concerned about their kids' online privacy and also about how much advertisers are able to learn about their kids' online behavior. The findings are based on telephone interviews of 802 US teens and their parents in late Q2 2012. The survey identified four areas of concern: Interaction with Strangers Online Reputation Management Information Available to Advertisers Impact on Future Opportunities Parents were most worried ("very concerned") about interaction with strangers o [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Legal: Privacy | Statistics: Social Media | Top News

The incident informally known as "Safarigate" or "Cookiegate" is now behind Google. On Friday, a court approved Google's $22.5 million settlement with the FTC. Some Google critics decried the settlement as having little impact on Google. The episode began in February of this year, when the Wall Street Journal discovered that Google (and others such as Gannett’s PointRoll) were circumventing mobile Safari’s default “no third party cookies” settings in order to track user behaviors. Google contended it was simply trying to make its "+1 buttons" work on iOS. The company argued nothi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Critics | Google: International | Google: Legal | Legal: Antitrust | Legal: General | Legal: Privacy | Top News

Google announced that the number of content removal requests submitted by governments have spiked in the first half of the year. From January through June 2012, there were there were 1,791 requests from government officials around the world to remove 17,746 pieces of content, almost double the previous six-month period. Here is the chart showing the recent spike in content removal requests: From January to June 2012, the following countries made the most requests to remove content: Turkey (501) United States (273) Germany (247) Brazil (191) United Kingdom (97) Gover [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Business Issues | Google: Legal | Legal: Censorship | Legal: General | Legal: Privacy | Top News