Privacy

FCC Asked to Get Tough on Do-Not-Track

June 19, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>SACRAMENTO — The Santa Monica-based group Consumer Watchdog petitioned the Federal Communications Commission this week for rules that would force companies such as Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. to comply with do-not-track requests sent by web surfers' browsers.</p> <p>Such efforts haven't gone far in the past. California dabbled with legislation that tried to encourage websites to at least disclose how they respond to do-not-track signals. But it hasn't changed sites' practices in any meaningful way.</p>

California DMV Reveals Details of Self-Driving Car Accidents

June 18, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="page" title="Page 1"> <div class="section" style="background-color: rgb(100.000000%, 100.000000%, 100.000000%)"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column"> <p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'FreeSans'">LOS ANGELES -- California state officials released reports Thursday detailing six accidents that involved self-driving car prototypes, reversing a policy that had shielded details of how the next-generation technology is performing during testing on public roads. </span></p>

California DMV to Release Self-Driving Car Accident Reports

June 18, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Breaking with previous policy, the California Department of Motor Vehicles said Thursday it will now release reports from accidents involving self-driving cars.<br /> <br />

Take a Spin with Google’s Self-Driving Car Chief

June 18, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="group-container "> <div class="group" itemprop="articleBody"> <p>Chris Urmson doesn't think it's funny, but he can't help but chuckle when he talks about some of the things he and his team have seen while logging more than a million miles in <a class="inline_quotes" data-gdsid="19004" data-inline-quote-symbol="GOOGL" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/GOOGL" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google</a>'s autonomous-drive vehicles.</p>

FCC Looks Serious About Enforcing Open Internet Rules; Now It Needs To Grant Our Petition

June 17, 2015  ·  John M. Simpson

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2877" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/images_fcc.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px; float: right;" width="300" height="300" />The Federal Communications Commission looks like it means business when it comes to enforcing open Internet rules.  It just <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/att-mobility-faces-100m-fine-misleading-consumers">slapped AT&T with a whopping $100 million fine</a>, one of the largest ever, for improperly slowing, or “throttling” Internet speeds for people who purchased what the company had described  as “unlimited” data plans.</p>

Facial Recognition Talks Break Down Over Marketing Opt-In

June 17, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Facial recognition continues to be a hot-potato topic for consumer advocates, who want stringent rules around how such data can be collected and used. Its use in commercial settings—for recognizing returning shoppers, for instance, to serve them targeted messaging—has kicked off privacy concerns on several fronts.</p>

Privacy Groups Quit US Talks On Facial Recognition Tech

June 17, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="preParagraph">WASHINGTON - Nine US privacy groups have dropped out of talks on voluntary standards for facial recognition technology, after failing to agree on a code on how it could be deployed.</p> <div class="articlePhotoLeft"> <p>Nine US privacy groups have dropped out of talks on voluntary standards for facial recognition technology, after failing to agree on a code on how it could be deployed</p>

Privacy Groups Leave Over Dispute on Facial Recognition Software

June 16, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>SAN FRANCISCO—Consumer groups that believe companies like Facebook need to get individuals' permission before their images can be identified using increasingly advanced facial recognition technology have abandoned talks to create a voluntary code of conduct for the controversial software.</p> <p>"This isn't just your anonymous online profile. It's you—they're tracking your face," said Jeffrey Chester with the Center for Digital Democracy, one of the groups.</p>

Push for Privacy Standards for Facial Recognition Falters

June 16, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span class="dateline">WASHINGTON</span>, D.C. -- Retailers have the ability to scan your face digitally, and use that identification to offer you special prices or even recognize you as a prior shoplifter. But should they use it? Should they get your permission first?</p>

Consumer Groups Back Out of Federal Talks on Face Recognition

June 16, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody">A central component of President Obama’s effort to give consumers more control over how companies collect and share their most sensitive personal details has run aground.</p> <p class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody">Nine civil liberties and consumer advocate groups announced early Tuesday morning that they were withdrawing from talks with trade associations over how to write guidelines for the fair commercial use of face recognition technology for consumers.</p>

Privacy Advocates Quit Talks Over Industry Use of ‘Faceprints’

June 16, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="copy-paste-block"> <div class="article-firstGraf" itemprop="articleBody"> <p>A group of privacy and consumer advocates has pulled the plug after 16 months of negotiations with the data industry over standards limiting the use of consumers' "faceprints" -- facial recognition data that the advocates say are far too sensitive to be governed by anything less than a strict "opt in" standard.</p>

Privacy Advocates Quit Commerce Department Facial Recognition Talks

June 16, 2015  ·  John M. Simpson

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2875" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/images_facialrecognition.jpg" style="width: 175px; height: 223px; float: right; margin: 3px;" width="199" height="254" />Consumer Watchdog has joined eight other privacy advocates and quit the so-called “multi-stakeholder process” being run by the <a href="http://www.ntia.doc.gov/">Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications Administration</a> to develop a code of conduct for companies using facial recognition technology.</p>