Privacy

Franken Wants Probe Of Apple’s Streaming Services

July 22, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Minnesota DFL U.S. Sen. Al Franken wants two federal agencies to investigate whether Apple’s new music streaming service is violating anti-trust laws.</p> <p>In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Federal Trade Commission Chair Edith Ramirez, Franken warned that Apple’s new music service may be harming consumers by limiting competition and driving up prices.</p>

Tech Giants Keep Spending Big On Lobbying In DC

July 21, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="copy-paste-block"> <p><span class="dateline">Research Triangle Park, N.C. — </span>Money talks in Washington, D.C., and technology giants keep spreading around the cash as it lobbies for everything from tax breaks to more business. AT&T stepped up its lobbying, for example, as it continues to try to win approval for its DirecTV deal. But the communications giant has plenty of company when it comes to investing in D.C.</p>

Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft Spending On Government Lobbying Revealed

July 21, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="shortdescrip"><strong>One company doubled its lobbying budget, while Google spent most.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft spent together $11.7 million on lobbying for Q2, according to disclosure forms filed with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.</p> <p>Google ranks the highest for the biggest amount spent at $4.69 million, although it was also the company that most trimmed its spending on lobbying by 13%, compared to $5.29 million spent in Q2 2014.</p>

Facebook, Amazon, Apple Pick Up Spending On Lobbying

July 21, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="drr-container" itemprop="articleBody"> <p>Apple, Facebook and Amazon.com have increased their expenses on trying to influence U.S. politicians and policy at the federal level, but Google still outstrips them in spending though it reduced expenditure in the second quarter.</p>

Parents Fight for “Right To Be Forgotten” After Daughter’s Death

July 20, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p><script type='text/javascript' src='http://woio.images.worldnow.com/interface/js/WNVideo.js?rnd=181079;hostDomain=www.19actionnews.com;playerWidth=630;playerHeight=385;isShowIcon=true;clipId=11695240;flvUri=;partnerclipid=;adTag=News;advertisingZone=;enableAds=true;landingPage=;islandingPageoverride=false;playerType=STANDARD_EMBEDDEDscript;controlsType=fixed'></script><a href="http://www.19actionnews.com" title="19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports">19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports</a></p>

Surveillance Society: Who Has The Rights to your Face?

July 13, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Facebook’s handling of your headshot is now the subject of class action lawsuits that pose the question: When someone turns your mug into data, are those digits theirs or yours?</p>

Can Privacy Advocates Force Google to Bring ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ to U.S.?

July 10, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Google’s refusal to honor U.S. citizens’ requests to remove content they’d rather have hidden is “unfair and deceptive” since the company professes to be concerned about privacy, an advocacy organization charged in a formal complaint filed July 7 with the Federal Trade Commission.</p>

Would You Pay $5 For An Ad-Free Internet?

July 10, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p style="">Seeing ads pop up in your Facebook News Feed on a smartphone can be annoying. But is it so disruptive that you’d pay a monthly fee to remove it?</p> <p style="">In a survey of 5,000 U.S. consumers, the answer was a resounding “no,” according to marketing and analytics firm AppLovin. For companies to recoup the amount they could earn through mobile advertising, customers would need to pay roughly $5 on top of their monthly cell phone bill, the firm said.</p>

Should Google Offer ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ In U.S.?

July 8, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span class="drop-initial">S</span>earch leader <span class="company">Google</span> (NASDAQ:<a class="stockRoll" href="http://research.investors.com/quotes/nasdaq-google-inc-cl-a-googl.htm" itemprop="tickerSymbol" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation" rel="/StockSymbol.axd?symbol=GOOGL">GOOGL</a>) should offer a "right to be forgotten" policy in the U.S., just as it does in the European Union, says consumer group Consumer Watchdog in a letter filed with the Federal Trade Commission.</p>

Privacy Group Asks FTC To Push Google on U.S. ‘Right To Be Forgotten’

July 8, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The failure of Google to offer users in the U.S. the same "right to be forgotten" <a href="http://www.cio-today.com/accuserve/accuserve-go.php?c=16978">protection</a> <a href="http://www.cio-today.com/accuserve/accuserve-go.php?c=16978"><img alt="Relevant Products/Services" border="0" height="13" src="http://images.cio-today.com/images/new/icon-inline-shop.gif" width="17" /></a> available in Europe violates U.S. law on unfair and deceptive trade practices, according to the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog.

New Data Breach Bill Covers Photos, Geolocation Data, Other ‘Sensitive’ Information

July 8, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A new bill introduced in the House on Wednesday would require companies to notify consumers within 30 days if hackers obtain “sensitive” information -- including photos, geolocation data and medical information.</p> <p>The Consumer Privacy Protection Act, introduced by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I. ) and backed by other Democrats, is a companion bill to a Senate measure proposed earlier this year by Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and supported by Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).</p>

Google is Facing a Fight Over Americans’ ‘Right To Be Forgotten’

July 8, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>After Europe, it might be America’s turn to enjoy the ‘<a href="http://thenextweb.com/google/2014/06/26/google-now-removing-search-results-following-eu-right-forgotten-ruling/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">right to be forgotten</a>‘. A consumer advocacy group in the US is urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate why Google hasn’t extended this option to users in the country.</p>