Robert McMillan reports: A programming bug on Facebook’s website may have accidentally given advertisers and others access to a treasure trove of personal information, according to security researchers at Symantec. They posted details of the issue Tuesday, saying it may have affected nearly 100,000 Facebook applications for years now. Read more on Computerworld. Over on Facebook’s…
Category: Business
Sen. Franken holding Washington hearings on smart phone privacy issues
Brett Neely of Minnesota Public Radio reports: On Tuesday, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., holds a hearing in Washington about privacy issues surrounding smart phones. Apple and Google will be in the spotlight. Both firms are under scrutiny for how they collect and share information about consumers. These are the first hearings for Franken’s newly-formed subcommittee…
Google deflects PR firm’s attack of Gmail privacy
Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz have an interesting piece in USA Today about how a public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller: stepped up a whisper campaign to get top-tier media outlets, including USA TODAY, to run news stories and editorials about how an obscure Google Gmail feature —Social Circle— ostensibly tramples the privacy of millions of Americans…
Privacy groups applaud Senator Rockefeller’s “Do Not Track” bill
Jacqui Cheng reports: Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has introduced a new “Do Not Track” bill to Congress that aims to hold companies accountable for collecting information on consumers after they’ve expressed a desire to opt out. Called the Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2011 (PDF), the bill would create a “universal legal obligation” for companies to honor…