When Facebook Groups launched last October, it came with a fatal flaw for those worried about keeping their activities private: Any group member was able to invite other people in without permission.
It was an idealistic approach to social networking that assumed groups would regulate themselves according to societal pressure. Invite …
With today’s estimated $135 million acquisition of Where.com – the hyperlocal media company that will soon offer deals based on user geotargeting – eBay not only adds another channel to its growing number of revenue streams, but also plants its foot firmly in the growing world of offline commerce.
Under eBay’s PayPal arm, …
One of these days, News Corp may get some good news from ailing social network MySpace, but today’s not that day: The media monolith’s being sued for sharing user data with third parties without consent. This, despite claiming it told users access to such information was restricted.
The class-action lawsuit, Virtue vs. Myspace Inc., …
Apple, Comcast, MySpace, Skype and Verizon are most willing to throw users under the bus when it comes to privacy, says the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Looking to rally users around the issue of privacy, the EFF has drawn up a handy chart for how tech companies respond to government requests for data. The advocacy group has also …
Senators John McCain and John Kerry have introduced an online privacy bill that would require companies to inform consumers when their personal data is being collected for marketing purposes and how it’s being shared.
“The bill, if it becomes law, would require companies to tell consumers why data was being
…
Auf wiedersehen, Google Street View. There’s going to be no more new street view pictures in Germany, says the search engine company.
Google isn’t taking any of the old Street View pictures down, but they’re not adding or updating any either. Street View was just launched in Germany last summer, but was scrutinized for its …
Pandora might not be the only company getting hit with subpoenas. If the Wall Street Journal is correct, a major shake-up could be involved, affecting hundreds of smartphone apps. Federal prosecutors are investigating whether these mobile apps are transmitting information about users without their proper consent and knowledge.
The …
Google and the Federal Trade Commission just agreed to make nice over allegations the company’s online conversation-starter Google Buzz violated privacy rights and tricked users into trying the service.
Not that Google’s off the hook. The proposed settlement would task Google with putting into place a “comprehensive privacy program,” …
This energetic young man is Tom Scott, making an entertaining presentation at Ignite London a few weeks ago, and very cleverly opening everyone’s eyes to the issues surrounding online privacy. Or the lack of it.
For those of you unable to watch the video, in it Tom pulls live data from the internet in real time, plucking personal …
Does Netflix know too much? The video provider is facing a class action lawsuit that claims that the company is violating user privacy by keeping viewing and payment records after customers cancel their service.
The action, filed last week by attorneys acting on behalf of former customer Peter Comstock and others, alleges that Netflix …
European politicians are a circumspect bunch: they don’t tend to call out American tech companies directly. Still, the speech that European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding delivered yesterday left little doubt that the European Union is giving Facebook and Google Street View the stinkeye over …
After numerous stories of our trusted sites sharing our precious, precious information with third parties, web security has become a major concern for most users. Yes, you can opt out of everything, but does that really keep you safe?
In response to user’s concerns, Google Chrome 10, Mozilla Firefox 4 and Internet Explorer 9 recently …
