The Information Commissioner’s Office issued the following statement: Google Inc. has signed a commitment to improve data handling to ensure breaches like the collection of WiFi payload data by Google Street View vehicles do not occur again, the Information Commissioner said today. Senior Vice President of Google, Alan Eustace, has signed an undertaking on behalf…
Category: Business
Nearly One Million LifeLock Victims to Receive Refund Checks from FTC
An administrator working for the Federal Trade Commission began mailing refund checks Wednesday to 957,928 people who were victims of allegedly false claims made by LifeLock, Inc., which told consumers it could provide absolute protection from identity theft if they signed up for its identity protection service. The mailings will continue for two weeks. In…
Insurers Test Data Profiles to Identify Risky Clients
Leslie Scism and Mark Maremont report: Life insurers are testing an intensely personal new use for the vast dossiers of data being amassed about Americans: predicting people’s longevity. Insurers have long used blood and urine tests to assess people’s health—a costly process. Today, however, data-gathering companies have such extensive files on most U.S. consumers—online shopping…
Commerce Dept. weighs privacy policy guidelines
Cecilia Kang reports: The Commerce Department has drafted broad recommendations for Internet privacy oversight in a widely anticipated report that could set the stage for tighter regulation of Web firms. Among its 10 policy recommendations, the report calls for strengthening the Federal Trade Commission’s rule-making powers and enacting legislation requiring Internet companies to inform customers…