Privacy

‘Girls Around Me’ Shows a Dark Side of Social Networks

April 2, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The makers of the mobile app Girls Around Me came under fire Monday for helping men to "stalk" unsuspecting women, but the incident also reveals how much we still have to learn about what social networks reveal about us.</p>

Google Guns for Facebook With Third-Party Comment Platform

March 28, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Google is reportedly working on a third-party comment platform. Sites that use comment platforms allow their users to discuss articles and blog posts by signing into third party's network. Facebook is currently a leader in the scene, and a move from Google would open up another competitive front for the two.</p> <p> Google, according to reports, will make the platform available to third parties in much the same way Facebook offers its platform, wherein visitors to a given website log into Facebook in order to post comments to the site's articles and content.</p>

FTC Online Privacy Report Lays Out New Standards

March 27, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <span id="articlebody">The Federal Trade Commission continued to step up pressure on businesses that collect consumer data on Monday, issuing a long-awaited final report on online privacy that lays out new standards and calls on Congress to push through legislation.</span></p> <p> <span id="articlebody">Predictably, free-market observers said the regulators were overstepping their bounds - and privacy advocates said the commission didn't go far enough. </span></p>

FTC Releases Online Privacy Report: Does It Go Too Far? Not Far Enough?

March 27, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

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US Regulators Demand Consumer Privacy Protection

March 27, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The US’ Federal Trade Commission is putting pressure on both Congress and tech companies to take actions to <a href="http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/interview/cory-doctorow-privacy-can-make-money-68921" title="cory-doctorow-privacy-can-make-money-68921">protect user privacy</a> and give them more information on how their personal data is collected and used.</p>

U.S. Agency Seeks Tougher Consumer Privacy Rules

March 27, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The government’s chief consumer protection agency said on Monday that it intended to take direct aim at the vast industry that has grown up around the buying and selling of information about American consumers.</p>

FTC Calls for Laws to Protect Consumer Privacy on Internet

March 27, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> In a broad report issued Monday, the FTC echoed President Obama's call, issued a month ago, for a new law that would serve as a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, establishing a basic set of online privacy principles.</p> <p> The agency also called specifically for a new law that would let consumers access, and dispute, personal and financial data collected and sold without their permission by giant data brokers, such as Acxiom.</p>

FTC Backs ‘Do Not Track’ Feature In Final Privacy Report

March 26, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <b>New browser feature could arrive before the year's end. </b></p>

California’s Stem Cell Agency Ponders Its Future

March 18, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The creation of California's stem cell agency in 2004 was greeted by scientists and patients as a turning point in a field mired in debates about the destruction of embryos and<br /> hampered by federal research restrictions.<br /> <br />

Reding: Google Privacy Policy Is Illegal

March 5, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <strong>Google should not have pushed through its privacy policy changes in the face of conflicts with European data protection laws, according to EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding</strong><br /> <br /> The European Union’s Justice Commissioner is certain Google’s new product policy privacy changes <a href="http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/google-privacy-policy-to-be-investigated-by-eu-regulators-58572">violate European laws</a> and was irked the search giant executed the changes against the protestations of data protection authorities.<br /> <br />

Google Enforces New Privacy Policy, Despite International Outcry About Its Implications

March 1, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <b>Defying strong opposition from many consumer groups around the globe, Google is imposing its new privacy policy on two billion users today - Google account holders and Android phone users are affected</b><br /> <br /> LONDON, United Kingdom -- Internet giant Google has ignored calls to delay the roll-out of its controversial new privacy policy and is enforcing it today.<br /> <br /> <b>Profiting from personal user data</b><br />

Google’s Privacy Rules Grow, But Do Protections?

March 1, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Google’s privacy policy grew from 650 words a dozen years ago to more than 2,000 in the <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/preview/">new version</a> which goes into effect on Thursday. But experts say the all the extra verbiage is not about protecting user data so much as setting clearer guidelines for exploiting it.</p>