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Category Archives: E-Commerce

The Future of Online Privacy Hinges on Thousands of New Jersey Cops

Wired [unaywalled]: “Removing your phone number and address from the internet can be exceedingly difficult. A multibillion-dollar lawsuit led by an unlikely privacy crusader could soon catalyze change for everyone…In a pile of lawsuits in New Jersey—drummed up by a 41-year-old serial entrepreneur named Matt Adkisson and five law firms, including two of the nation’s most prominent—about 20,000 workers, retirees, and their relatives are suing 150 companies and counting for allegedly failing to honor requests to have their personal information removed under Daniel’s Law. These companies, which Adkisson estimates generate $150 billion annually in sales, may now be on the hook for $8 billion in penalties. But what’s more important to him is the hope that this narrow New Jersey law could act as a wedge to force data brokers to stop publishing sensitive data about people of all professions nationwide. He’s hoping that this multibillion-dollar pursuit, with its army of union cop households, may be a catalyst for better personal privacy for us all.

Google will let you search for products on Maps to help with holiday shopping

The Verge: “Google has added some new travel and shopping features to Maps that aim to make it easier to find local products and stay on time during busy periods. Starting today, Maps now allows users to search for items like home goods, clothing, and electronics, and find stores nearby that sell them — a… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 9, 2024

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 9, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex… Continue Reading

FTC Order Against AI-Enabled Review Platform Sitejabber

“The Federal Trade Commission today charged that Sitejabber, a company offering an AI-enabled consumer review platform, deceived consumers by misrepresenting that ratings and reviews it published came from customers who experienced the reviewed product or service, artificially inflating average ratings and review counts. Under a proposed order settling the agency’s complaint, Sitejabber will be prohibited from… Continue Reading

Streaming subscription fees have been rising while content quality is dropping

Ars Technica: “Subscription fees for video streaming services have been on a steady incline. But despite subscribers paying more, surveys suggest they’re becoming less satisfied with what’s available to watch. At the start of 2024, the industry began declaring the end of Peak TV, a term coined by FX Networks Chairman John Landgraf that refers… Continue Reading

The chatbot optimisation game: can we trust AI web searches?

The Guardian -“…Looking into the sort of evidence that large language models (LLMs, the engines on which chatbots are built) find most convincing, three computer science researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, found current chatbots overrely on the superficial relevance of information. They tend to prioritise text that includes pertinent technical language or is… Continue Reading

Exploiting Meta’s Weaknesses, Deceptive Political Ads Thrived on Facebook and Instagram in Run-Up to Election

ProPublica: Reporting Highlights Deceptive Political Ads: Eight deceptive advertising networks have placed over 160,000 election and social issues ads across more than 340 Facebook pages in English and Spanish. Harmed Users: Some of the people who clicked on ads were unwittingly signed up for monthly credit card charges or lost health coverage, among other consequences.… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 26, 2024

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 26, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and… Continue Reading

The Boomer Stuff Avalanche

Business Insider ungated – “Millennials are about to be crushed by all the junk their parents accumulated…In some ways, this is a timeless problem — every generation accumulates things, and younger generations rebel against older generations’ tastes. But the sheer size of the current problem is unprecedented given that baby boomers are an extra-materialistic breed.… Continue Reading