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
Jimbo Wales replied to my open questions on some of the privacy concerns that quickly arise given that it seems Wikia Search will be advertising supported. From the open forum (my original requestions in bold, Wales' answers beneath): What kind…
Read More Some Answers – and More Questions – on Wikia Search, Advertising, and User Privacy
I think we've all heard now that Jimbo Wales has set his sights on creating a search engine to rival Google, Yahoo and the rest of the gang. It is currently under development as Wikia Search (but I'm guessing the…
Read More Open Questions on Wikia Search, Advertising, and User Privacy
The title of this post is the headline from a story in today's Wall Street Journal (non-firewall version here), detailing how the largest web search engines are starting to make changes to how they handle the data collected from their…
In a bold, unilateral move, the web search engine Ask.com has announced it will soon be implementing a new product called AskEraser which promises to allow users to erase their search history: With AskEraser, people can ensure that their search…
Today I gave an abbreviated presentation of my dissertation research at the OII Summer Doctoral Programme hosted by the Berkman Center. (PDF of slides) Along with a summary of the diss, my talk included a brief meta-discussion of both the…
Read More SDP2007 Presentation: The Quest for the Perfect Search Engine
Google announced today they are changing the expiration date of their cookie from 2038 (the latest possible date) to a rolling 2 year period. Once put into action, users who visit Google today, for example, will receive a cookie that…
Read More Google’s Cookie to have 2 Year Expiration (Because it is of little value after that time)
Google's Peter Fleischer is (again) trying to provide justifications for Google's retention of users' search activities. He (again) is misleading. I don't have a lot of free time right now for an in-depth response, (my analysis is here) which is…
Read More More of Peter Fleischer Misleading on Google Data Retention
Researchers at Cornell University's Center for Hospitality Research have released a study on consumer reactions to the common practice in the hospitality industry to collect, aggregate, and use customer's personal data. From the abstract: Data-Driven Ethics: Exploring Customer Privacy in…
I recently had the pleasure of attending an excellent workshop on "privacy advocacy" hosted by the Boalt Hall School of Law at Berkeley. The goal was to get privacy advocates in the room with academics who work on privacy in…
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