Privacy

Google Fined $7 Million Over Hotspot Data Grab

March 12, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>NEW YORK — Google agreed to pay a $7 million fine in the United States on Tuesday for stealthily collecting data from private Wi-Fi hotspots in a mapping service slip that irked an array of countries.</p> <p>In a legal settlement with attorneys general in 38 states, the Internet giant also agreed to ramp up employee training about data privacy and back a nationwide campaign to teach people about securing wireless networks.</p>

Google’s Wi-Fi Sniffing To Result In $7 Million Fine

March 12, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>Slurp sparks states' slight slap</strong></p> <p>Google is reportedly close to settling with the 30 US states that were pursuing it over the infamous StreetView Wifi data slurp.</p> <p>In between practicing taking the decision seriously in public, there are probably fits of giggles breaking out in Google's boardroom, because according to <i>Reuters</i>, the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/08/net-us-google-settlement-idUSBRE92719820130308">proposed</a> [1] settlement is $US7 million.</p>

Google Concedes That Drive-by Prying Violated Privacy

March 12, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>SAN FRANCISCO — <a class="meta-org" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/google_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More information about Google Inc">Google</a> on Tuesday acknowledged to state officials that it had violated people’s privacy during its Street View mapping project when it casually scooped up passwords, e-mail and other personal information from unsuspecting computer users.</p>

FTC: Ads On Mobile, Social Media Must Show Disclosures

March 12, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Marketers hawking diet pills and other questionable goods on social media will have to be more forthcoming.</p> <p>Digital ads that pop up on Twitter, Facebook and other mobile sites must be accompanied by disclosures to avoid deceptive practices, according to a rule update issued Tuesday by the Federal Trade Commission.</p>

Consumer Watchdog Calls for Meaningful Wi-Spy Penalties

March 12, 2013  ·  John M. Simpson

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-20330" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/images_googleembedded1.jpg" style="width: 316px; height: 222px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="316" height="222" />SANTA MONICA, CA – The $7 million deal announced today ending a multi-state investigation of the Google Wi-Spy scandal does virtually nothing to thwart the Internet giant’s repeated privacy violations, Consumer Watchdog said.  The public interest group said Google should pay an amount that would affect its profits.</p>

Parents Say California Medical Board Fails To Probe Drug Prescriptions

March 11, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Dozens of bereaved parents whose children died from pain-medication overdoses told state legislators Monday that the California Medical Board is failing to protect the public from so-called "dirty doctors" who overprescribe addictive drugs, especially to young adults.</p> <p>Their reports of a growing epidemic in California mirror national statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which revealed new data recently showing that deaths due to pain medicine overdoses have increased for the 11th year in a row.</p>

Will Google Buy Its Way Out Of Trouble For A Mere $7 million?

March 9, 2013  ·  John M. Simpson

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2608" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/images_googlespy.jpg" style="width: 150px; height: 150px; float: right;" width="100" height="100" />Reports were <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20130308/google-to-pay-7m-to-settle-wispy-case-with-more-than-30-u-s-attorneys-general/">circulating in the tech press</a> Friday that serial privacy violator Google is about to cut a deal with state attorneys general to close their investigation of the Wi-Spy scandal.<br /> <br />

Google to Pay $7M to Settle Wi-Spy Case With More Than 30 U.S. Attorneys General

March 8, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Google will soon settle with the attorneys general representing more than 30 U.S. states over its Street View cars collecting data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks, multiple sources said.</p> <p><a href="http://allthingsd.com/files/2012/04/busted_street_view_car.jpg"><img alt="busted_street_view_car" class="size-medium wp-image-197938 alignright" height="270" src="http://allthingsd.com/files/2012/04/busted_street_view_car-380x270.jpg" width="380" /></a></p>

Redesign Makes Facebook More Compelling, Less Cluttered

March 8, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="bodytext"><span id="mn_Article">I've not always been happy about the changes <a href="http://www.siliconvalley.com/topics?Facebook">Facebook</a> has made over the years, but I like its update of the News Feed, which the company announced and started rolling out this week.</span></p> <p><span id="mn_Article">The new News Feed is less cluttered and more graphically appealing. And it gives special prominence to photographs, which now represent about half of all posts in the feed.</span></p>

Google Nearing $7 Million Settlement

March 8, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Google is nearing a deal in which it would pay $7 million to resolve investigations with more than 30 state attorneys general over its controversial <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-tech/post/google-engineer-told-officials-street-view-cars-were-collecting-personal-data-fcc-report/2012/04/29/gIQAPLtkpT_blog.html">Street View program</a>, in which it captured data from private WiFi signals while taking street-level images throughout the world, said a person familiar with the looming agreement.</p>

European Regulators Hit Microsoft With $731 Million Fine

March 6, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>Software giant takes full responsibility in case</strong></p> <p>SEATTLE – The $731 million fine European regulators slapped on Microsoft Wednesday for failing to abide by an antitrust sanction, reinforces the European Union's longstanding insistence on fair competition.</p> <p>What's more, the huge penalty also signaled that Europe won't easily be swayed by Google and Facebook to back down from expanding online privacy rights for individuals, a policy that the U.S. tech and media companies contend would crimp the global growth of online advertising.</p>

Two California Officials Under Fire For Conflicts Of Interest

March 6, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/mar/06/two-california-officials-under-fire-conflict-inter/">Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast</a>.</p> <p><span class="dateline">SAN DIEGO</span> — The group <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/">Consumer Watchdog</a> is accusing two top state officials of long-term and ongoing conflicts of interest.</p>