Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission finalized the order settling charges that online advertising company Chitika, Inc. tracked consumers’ online activities even after they chose to opt out of online tracking on the company’s website. The FTC alleged that, unbeknownst to consumers, the “opt out” lasted for only 10 days. The final…
Category: Business
The media loved the Lower Merion “webcamgate” case but ignores PC Rental Agent case?
I continue to be surprised at how little coverage I’m seeing in mainstream media about a case involving software that can and allegedly has take(n) remote screenshots of customers in their homes without their knowledge. I’ve posted a few blog entries on the potential class action lawsuit against Aaron’s Inc, Aspen Way Enterprises (a franchisee),…
Does Anonymizing Data Help Protect Customers’ Privacy?
Klint Finley writes: Data collected from customers is routinely anonymized and then sold or otherwise disseminated for research purposes. But does anonymization work? One particularly high profile case was Netflix’s release of its customer data as part of its machine learning algorithm contest. According to Forbes’ firewall blog, researchers were able to de-anonymize some of this…
Google’s Web mapping can track your phone
Declan McCullagh reports: If you have Wi-Fi turned on, the previous whereabouts of your computer or mobile device may be visible on the Web for anyone to see. Google publishes the estimated location of millions of iPhones, laptops, and other devices with Wi-Fi connections, a practice that represents the latest twist in a series of…