News release: “Whether your gift list is ready or you’re wondering how long you can wait to start your holiday shopping, the Federal Trade Commission has online tips to help you get the best deals. The bottom line: Some extra research can really pay off.” Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: E-Commerce
Collection and sale of mobile phone user data
CNNMoney: “Your phone company knows where you live, what websites you visit, what apps you download, what videos you like to watch, and even where you are. Now, some have begun selling that valuable information to the highest bidder. In mid-October, Verizon Wireless changed its privacy policy to allow the company to record customers’ location… Continue Reading
How Tablets, Smartphones and Connected Devices are Changing U.S. Digital Media Consumption Habits
Digital Omnivores: How Tablets, Smartphones and Connected Devices are Changing U.S. Digital Media Consumption Habits, comScore, October 2011. “Todays digital media environment is rapidly evolving, driven by the proliferation of devices people use to consume content both at home, at work and on the go. Not too long ago, consumers depended solely on their desktop… Continue Reading
Markey to Amazon: Dont Hold a Kindle Fire Sale on Privacy
News release: “Concerned that the pairing of the new Kindle Fire tablet with its must-use Silk browser means Amazon could track each Web click of Kindle Fire users Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) [October 14, 2011] sent a letter to Amazons CEO asking for responses to questions about tablets users privacy and security…In May 2011,… Continue Reading
Tracking the Trackers: Where Everybody Knows Your Username
Tracking the Trackers: Where Everybody Knows Your Username by Jonathan Mayer, posted on October 11, 2011 Click the local Home Depot ad and your email address gets handed to a dozen companies monitoring you. Your web browsing, past, present, and future, is now associated with your identity. Swap photos with friends on Photobucket and clue… Continue Reading
Mining Data From Social Media for Marketing, Trend Spotting and More?
The Economist: “The beauty of Twitter, the popular microblogging service, is that users have to keep it short: messages can only be 140 characters long. But companies that mine the stream of tweets for marketing and other purposes (see article in this week’s issue of The Economist) get much more information. [Here is a map]… Continue Reading
Report Release: Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users
Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users by Erica Newland, Caroline Nolan, Cynthia Wong, and Jillian York. “This report explores these dilemmas, and recommends principles, strategies, and tools that both user-generated content (UGC) platforms and users can adopt to mitigate the negative effects of account deactivation and content removal.… Continue Reading
Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users
Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users, Erica Newland, Caroline Nolan, Cynthia Wong, and Jillian York. The Berkman Center for Internet & Society and. The Center for Democracy & Technology, September 2011 “This report explores these dilemmas, and recommends principles, strategies, and tools that both user-generated content (UGC) platforms… Continue Reading
FTC publication, A Business Guide to the FTC's Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
News release: “As part of the Federal Trade Commissions systematic review of all of the agencys rules and guides, the FTC is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule. The Rule, issued in 1975, requires that marketers who solicit buyers to order merchandise through mail or telephone must… Continue Reading
Representatives Barton, Markey Urge FTC To Investigate Use Of Supercookies
News release: “Representatives Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Co-Chairmen of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking the agency to investigate so-called supercookies, files that can be installed on computers without a user’s knowledge. Supercookies allow websites to collect detailed personal data about users,… Continue Reading
BTN: Microsoft Becomes First Corporate User of Standard XML-Based Bank Statements
Microsoft Becomes First Corporate User of Standard XML-Based Bank Statements ‘Microsoft collaborated with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi and SWIFT to develop a unified format that lets it receive electronic bank statements from all its banking providers in the same format. Extensible Markup Language is a way of formatting, parsing and tagging data such… Continue Reading
Report Provides Guidelines for Dilemmas of Account Deactivation and Content Removal
“A report released today by the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society highlights the dilemmas companies and users face when enforcement of a website’s Terms of Use policy results in deactivation of user accounts or removal of user-generated content. The report recommends principles, strategies, and tools that both… Continue Reading
