The FTC is lighting a fire under the mobile app industry to improve its privacy and disclosure policies for children’s apps. The FTC said that most apps still don’t do basic disclosure about the use of data for advertising and other third-party services. Read more »
An old hoax has resurfaced that suggests Facebook users can tell the company what to do by posting a legal notice on their profile. Alas, it’s not true — your interactions with the company are governed by law and licenses, not your wishes. Read more »
An alarming story about a Senate plan to let federal agencies read your email turns out to have been a false alarm. Unfortunately, fears over online privacy mean such stories travel quickly — and that we’re likely to see the media crying wolf in the future. Read more »
Facebook is proposing integrating user data with Instagram user data, and abolishing a voting system that allowed users to weigh in on potential changes to the site. The changes bring some privacy concerns for users, but come from Facebook’s desire to monetize and streamline user data. Read more »
The US presidential election was further proof that 2012 has been a good year to be a quant — and being a data scientist has never been sexier. But data is nothing without trust, says former Last.fm executive Matthew Hawn. Read more »
Project Glass, Google’s augmented reality smart glasses, is the ultimate expression of the wearable tech trend. Paul Armstrong of @TheMediaIsDying says that whether you like it or not, the technology is coming–and the changes are going to be profound for the media business. Read more »
There’s shift happening in the world of online data collection, meaning consumers might expect to get paid for access to their data rather than always playing the role of uncompensated mark. Done right, it’s a system where both sides of the equation stand to win. Read more »
In addition to occasional acts of journalism, Reddit is also known for its less savory content, including a page featuring creepy photos of women taken without their permission — and the controversy over that kind of content says a lot about the nature of the community. Read more »
After a judge blasted a proposed Sponsored Stories settlement that would have paid $10 million to lawyers and nothing to users, the company is back with a new offer. It calls for a $10 pay out but the fine print means that is unlikely to happen. Read more at paidContent »
A French tabloid set off a temporary worldwide panic that Facebook had published the private messages of its users. France’s privacy regulator has now accepted the company’s explanation that this didn’t happen — but did blame Facebook for stirring up confusion. Read more »
The social network has bowed to the demands of privacy regulators across the EU and axed its facial recognition features for European users. However, it plans to bring the functionality back once it’s figured out how to give its users real privacy choice. Read more »
Kids have always said bad things about teachers and gotten into trouble with their classmates. But today, it’s much easier for schools to overhear them by accessing a student’s Facebook account. One judge has put the brakes on this. Read more »
Photojournalist Rick Smolan has a new book coming out called The Human Face of Big Data. Far more than a book, it’s part of a project to show how much data each one of us generates, how it’s all connected and how it’s changing the world. Read more »
Twitter is fighting a major privacy case that will help determine who has rights in social media. Unfortunately, the case is before a judge who has been disciplined for misusing Facebook. His track record suggests that he is the very last person who should be deciding these issues. Read more »
Netflix is ready to pay $9 million to resolve a class action over keeping subscriber records too long. But now dozens of people are telling a judge not to approve the deal because they get none of the money. Read more »
Federal investigators viewed the Facebook profile of an alleged gangster in the Bronx by asking his informant “friend” to show it to them. A judge ruled this was not unconstitutional because Facebook users can’t control what other people do with the information they post. Read more »
Users upset about Quora showing which posts had been read by which readers can rest easy — the site has backtracked on its decision to show that information after receiving complaints from users, who were generally unhappy with the feature. Read more »
Federal regulators confirmed a record-breaking fine related to Google’s use of advertising cookies to trick browsers and overcome default privacy settings. Read more »
Tea Party favorite Senator Rand Paul took to the podium at a Heritage Foundation event last week to talk about tech policy. However, individual rights and less government regulation certainly are important to the future of the internet, there are necessary limits to that freedom. Read more »
Facebook wants a court to approve a deal that will see it pay $20 million to settle the ‘sponsored stories’ controversy. But now, as groups file objections, the judge is questioning whether the settlement’s blacked out financial figures can remain secret. Read more »
People who don’t like the idea of Google photographing their homes — and sniffing their wifi– will really hate this: The National Security Agency is compiling huge dockets of information on citizens including email and cell phone conversations, according to former NSA officials. Read more »
With peripheral inquiries ongoing in to conspiracy and media ethics, Tuesday’s announcement that Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and six others will be charged for “phone hacking” shows the News Of The World furore will soon finally focus on the original criminal allegations. Read more at paidContent »
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has abruptly recused herself from a high-profile case in which Facebook had recently proposed to pay at least $10 million to settle accusations that it violated users’ privacy when it used their photos for “sponsored stories” without their permission. Read more at paidContent »
There was a time when only people with money to hire a detective could dig into someone’s life. Now, dozens of companies have sprung up that will prowl into a person’s past for as little as $2. Read more at paidContent »
Another day, another privacy payout. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Federal Trade Commission has assessed Google with a $22.5 million fine to settle claims that it hacked users’ iPhones in order to serve ads to them. Read more »
Law enforcement and other government bodies, it seems, aren’t shy about asking for or demanding data about users from wireless carriers. All told, wireless providers received more than 1.3 million requests for user data last year, and requests are increasing every year. Here are more details. Read more »
Hey, mobile developers, have you ever wondered where users are when they interact with your apps — like down to the level of whether they’re in a Starbucks or the McDonald’s right across the street? A startup called Placed can tell you so you can act accordingly. Read more »
Stringent data protection rules have proven a big obstacle to cloud adoption in Europe, but now the continent’s privacy watchdogs want to make things more straightforward. How? They’re recommending external inspections on cloud providers in the U.S. and elsewhere. Read more »
Twitter released its first-ever transparency report on Monday, which provides statistics on the number of times governments and individuals requested data on Twitter users or made takedown requests under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act during the first half of 2012. Read more »
In a closely-watched case tied to last year’s Occupy Wall Street protests, a New York judge ruled that tweets are no different from words shouted in the street and ordered Twitter to turn over a user’s account to prosecutors. Read more »
LinkedIn will get to connect with a federal judges after an embarrasing security breach in early June. The social network for professionals has been hit with a class action seeking at least $5 million over an incident that exposed millions of passwords. Read more »
The technology industry is trapped in a cycle of privacy breaches and class action lawsuits that does nothing for the average internet user. The new Facebook settlement is just the latest example. Read more at paidContent »
Now that businesses have collected and stored all of this data, how are they going to protect it? And most importantly, how are they going to use if safely and legitimately? ISF’s Steve Durbin outlines the five key issues surrounding big data and information security. Read more »
Online genealogy service Ancestry.com is trying to become like the Amazon or Netflix of family trees. Much like those companies use customer data to recommend products or movies customers might like, Ancestry.com is using machine learning to make learning about ancestors a lot less work. Read more »
If Google thought its StreetView data collection controversy was over, it can think again. The UK’s data watchdog is re-opening its investigation, maddened that it apparently wasn’t told the full story earlier. Read more »
As promised, hactivist group Anonymous organized demonstrations on Saturday in 16 cities throughout India, protesting the governments Internet laws and the ISPs’ blocking of popular file-sharing sites. Protesters donned Guy Fawkes masks and amassed at cricket grounds and other outdoor landmarks from Chennai to Delhi. Read more »
It’s 2023, and here you are, 13 years old and finally ready for your own Facebook page! I’m sorry if my decision not to digitally document your life up to this point makes it tougher for you to be successful. But I hope you’ll thank me. Read more »
One of the world’s leading credit agencies is courting controversy with an experimental program that will use data from Facebook and other social networks to inform its ratings decisions. And the biggest surprise? It’s happening in privacy-mad Germany. Read more »
Both Path and Airbnb suffered data breaches and were quick to respond to the fallout. LinkedIn, like most publicly traded companies has been slow to respond. It eventually posted its response and outlined the next steps to take. Read more »
Facebook is said to be working on new features that would allow children under 13 to access the network. Is this a way of helping parents encourage their children to develop better online skills, or does it open kids up to privacy problems and other issues? Read more »
