Jennifer Preston reports: Companies have long used criminal background checks, credit reports and even searches on Google and LinkedIn to probe the previous lives of prospective employees. Now, some companies are requiring job candidates to also pass a social media background check. A year-old start-up, Social Intelligence, scrapes the Internet for everything prospective employees may…
Category: Business
Murdoch’s News Corp Lobbied on Privacy Issues as Hacking Controversy Bubbled
Josh Israel and Aaron Mehta report: As the phone hacking scandal grows around Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, disclosure records show that the company spent over $1.5 million on federal lobbying in the first three months of this year — including lobbying on issues of digital privacy. […] Notably, the company whose U.K. affiliate is under…
IE: Vodafone contacting all customers about phone hacking threat
John Kennedy reports: Vodafone has confirmed it has launched a phased campaign to remind customers about changing their remote voicemail passwords from the default PIN ‘0000’ that makes it easy for hackers to access their voice messages. The company is contacting its 2.2m Irish customers to ensure they are sufficiently informed about what they can…
Waxman: Privacy Self-Regulation Not Working
Wendy Davis reports: The online ad industry’s voluntary measures to protect consumers’ privacy are falling short, a senior lawmaker said Thursday. “Self-regulation isn’t working,” Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. He added that a report posted this week by Stanford researchers…