Controversial European privacy rules that require websites to inform users about tracking cookies are finally hitting Britain this weekend. But the country’s startups seem to be taking no notice of the law, despite the fact they face up huge fines for non-compliance. Read more »
UK web publishers and marketers may be grumbling about the E-Privacy Directive coming into force, but they can count themselves lucky that they’re not dealing with stricter interpretations of the law that are happening elsewhere across Europe. Read more »
Whether they’re outraged, scrabbling in terror, or simply hoping it goes away, it’s the privacy rule that European startups can’t ignore. But what exactly is the European cookie directive? As the rules come into force in the U.K., we take a look at the details. Read more »
Microsoft’s Bing StreetSide service was offering a welcome replacement for Google’s out-of-date Street View imagery in Germany, but now privacy complaints have seen it taken offline. When will somebody realize these complaints have gone too far? Read more »
Lawyers tried to ruin Mark Zuckerberg’s big day with a sprawling lawsuit that portrays the Facebook founder as a rogue hacker, and accuses the company of tracking users on their computers and iPhones. We have a plain english Q&A. Read more »
Twitter today gave a nod to user privacy, announcing that it would support the Do Not Track privacy feature in Mozilla’s Firefox browser. Read more »
If Facebook really is overvalued leading up to its IPO, privacy might be the underlying cause of the company’s missed expectations. As it turns out, pleasing both investors and users isn’t easy for a company that relies heavily on advertising and personal data. Read more »
With more and more business leaders now turning to this topic, the questions — and confusion — are multiplying. With so much to consider, we’ve broken down the cloud discussion to help companies decide which strategy is right for their business. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
A survey of court records reveals that a growing number of iPhones and iPads are the target of forensic examinations by federal agents. Read more »
While there has been much outrage about Google “snooping” user data over Wi-Fi, even the FCC says this behavior wasn’t illegal, since the networks in question were public. Is this a sign that the laws around privacy are broken, or is the Streetview furor an overreaction? Read more »
The UK parliamentary committee’s report into whether it was misled over phone hacking makes conclusions including: “Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.” Read more at paidContent »
The moods of men can be captured by a web app, which can then recommend the appropriate spiciness of chicken wings they should eat, and even suggest appropriate mood music thanks to Spotify. Welcome to the data-driven future. Adjust your personal privacy setting accordingly. Read more »
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act is a lot like your old college buddy who used to get way too drunk and then puke in your lap: it claims to mean well, but its actions suggest otherwise. Here’s how to improve it. Read more »
Privacy is a bit like the weather — everyone talks about it but no one does a damn thing about it. Sure, it’s creepy that these companies track you and munch your personal information. But are you really going to ditch Facebook and every other online convenience of modern life? Read more at paidContent »
The UK’s communications regulator has kicked off a week in which News Corp will again be hauled over the coals, by opening an inquiry in to email hacking at its Sky News channel. Read more at paidContent »
Media issues like advertising and discovery along with commerce dominated the activity in social and real-time Web technologies during the first quarter. Google raised some hackles, Facebook responded to demands from traditional advertisers, and Yahoo got a new chief executive. Read more in the full report. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google-co-founder Sergey Brin recently said he believes the future of the “open Internet” is at risk. Then why is the company trying to build its own closed network? Because the open vs. closed debate is more complicated than it first appears when it comes to Google. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
In the first quarter of 2012 all eyes were on the screen, both big and small. Apple’s new Retina display pushed video streaming, and broadcast-TV streaming service Aereo’s launch was quickly followed with litigation. These events and more are discussed in a new quarterly report. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The Atlantic recently published an article on what politicans know about voters, complete with market research data that breaks down consumer preferences by poltical party and likely turnout on voting day. There are some strong associations that lack political explanations. I want to know why. Read more »
It’s hard to be a web user, especially since the government has gotten so interested in what we’re doing online. It’s even worse when we can’t figure out who — if anyone — is actually on our side, and what terms we’re willing to live with. Read more »
Facebook is giving users the chance to download more of the information that it holds about them than ever before, but the small group of Austrian law students who forced the change say the social network is still holding back. Read more »
Google has been on the receiving end of some particularly egregious privacy complaints lately, stemming from its revised privacy policy. However, most of these efforts to call out Google seem like little more than attempts to make a quick payday in the court or with voters. Read more »
The UK government considers a law that would allow for surveillance of online activity, U.S. universities admit they track what their athletes are saying on Twitter, and employers are asking for Facebook passwords. At this point, advertisers tracking us online is the least of our problems. Read more »
Plans by the British government to give intelligence agencies access to details of every phone call, email, text and website visit made in the country have drawn plenty of anger from across the spectrum. Here’s what people are saying about the controversy. Read more »
A British parliamentary committee is asking Google, Twitter and Facebook to filter their services and protect individuals’ privacy. But as the web services start to push back, they may have already sealed their own fate. Read more »
Europe and America have different views on freedom of speech and privacy. But with British and French legislators both challenging the idea of a free and unfettered web, can there ever be a transatlantic accord? Read more »
Advertising companies like Facebook and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) are usually on the front line of the digital privacy debate. But in a long-await… Read more at paidContent »
As privacy continues to be an important issue for Apple and iOS, the company is said to have finally started enforcing a policy that keeps apps out of the App Store that collect a device’s unique identifier number, which is sometimes used to track user behavior. Read more »
Clever Facebook. The social network has the media singing its praises as a civil rights champion on the same day that it shuffles its privac… Read more at paidContent »
As America’s top privacy cop, the Federal Trade Commission is in the thick of balancing tech and privacy issues. In the last year, it has be… Read more at paidContent »
As America and Europe try to harmonize their data protection regulations, startups in Berlin explain the benefits of a more level playing field. Read more »
French data watchdog CNIL has sent Google a list of 69 questions about its new privacy policy that it must answer within three weeks. But the poser that Europe really wants to find an answer to is a simple one: why? Read more »
A sprawling lawsuit filed in Texas this week targets Path, Instagram, Facebook and others for instructing their apps to suck up user address… Read more at paidContent »
You know how our social graphs are creeping into every aspect of our web lives, from search results to coupons? Well, get ready for something a lot more personal, a lot more targeted and, perhaps, a lot more creepy. Read more »
The legal fallout continues over Google’s decision to circumvent privacy settings on the iPhone. Court records show that there are now at le… Read more at paidContent »
Facebook has been slapped down again by the German authorities over privacy problems with its Friend Finder feature — but while reports suggest the social network has fixed the problem, the consumer group that launched the complaint says it is still not happy. Read more »
Almost a week after the New York Times demonstrated that iOS and Android apps could upload a customer’s photo library to a remote server without their express permission, Sen. Charles Schumer is stating the obvious: they should fix that — and he wants the FTC to investigate. Read more »
There has been a lot of outrage — bordering on hysteria — about Google’s new privacy policy, with some critics advising users to delete their search histories. But is there that much to fear from Google’s tracking? Not really. In fact, in many ways it is beneficial. Read more »
One of Google’s core principles for Android was that app developers couldn’t access personal information unless they asked permission before the user installed the app. Turns out that Android doesn’t extend that protection to some of the most personal data on a phone: photos. Read more »
At midnight, Google’s official blog posted a notice confirming that the company’s new privacy policy went into effect. Reaction so far sugge… Read more at paidContent »
