You can file this in the "altogether not that surprising" category: The IT security firm Sophos has conducted a little experiment to see how easily it might be to obtain personal information from Facebook users. They created a fabricated Facebook…
Read More 41% of Facebook Users Share Personal Information with a Frog
John Palfrey and Jonathan Zittrain have published a wonderful opinion piece at CNet about how Internet companies struggle with certain "gray zones" of complicity with oppressive regimes and their desire to filter and censor Web content. They try to provide…
Read More Perspective: Companies need guidance to face censors abroad
Even while Earthlink seems to be stepping away from municipal wi-fi projects, San Francisco is introducing a non-binding ballot proposal to gauge citizen interest in blanketing the city in Google/Earthlink hotspots. Nathan Weinberg dug up a copy of the ballot…
Read More San Francisco’s Wi-Fi Plan on November Ballot Proposal
An anonymous post at the On The Identity Trail project’s blog, blog*on*nymity titled PETs are Dead; Long Live PETs! calls for increased attention by privacy advocates for technological solutions to privacy problems: Privacy advocates tend to react to information privacy…
I'm under deadline pressure currently, so very quickly: Declan McCullagh and Elinor Mills at CNet have surveyed the major search engine providers about their privacy practices related to retention of user data and behavioral targeting. Full story here, and the…
Google is testing new ad-serving technology with added privacy protections: In our ad-serving tests, we're introducing an opt-out mechanism so people can opt out of the test ad-serving cookie if they wish. In addition, we’re going to experiment with ways…
Peter Fleischer, Google's Global Privacy Counsel, has posted a short video to help explain basic search privacy concepts, such as what appears in a search query log entry, etc. This is really basic stuff, but a good step towards educating…
Read More Google Posts Search Privacy Video, and Leaving Comments Threatens Privacy
I noted a few weeks ago how privacy of Web search data has recently become an issue in the forefront of many people's minds. Well, the virus is spreading: Search engines dealing with privacy standards: The European Digital Rights advocacy…
About a year ago Google posted interesting research on technology enabling your computer to listen to the ambient sounds emitted from your TV, automatically determine what is being watched (recognizing the theme song to "Seinfeld" or the sounds of a…
In response to recent concerns about Internet and search companies developing the means to track and profile users based on psychological and behavioral traits, the FTC has announced plans to host a town hall meeting to "address the consumer protection…
Read More FTC to Host Town Hall to Examine Privacy Issues and Online Behavioral Advertising
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