“The agency details interim insights from staff perspective examining how companies track consumer behaviors to inform surveillance pricing. The Federal Trade Commission’s initial findings from its surveillance pricing market study revealed that details like a person’s precise location or browser history can be frequently used to target individual consumers with different prices for the same… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Commerce
Lawsuit accuses Amazon of secretly tracking consumers through cellphones
Reuters via MSN: “Amazon.com was sued on Wednesday by consumers who accused the retailing giant of secretly tracking their movements through their cellphones, and selling data it collects. According to a proposed class action in San Francisco federal court, Amazon obtained “backdoor access” to consumers’ phones by providing tens of thousands of app developers with… Continue Reading
Container ships
Nearly everything you own, including the clothes you’re wearing and the device your’re reading this on, was delivered by a container ship. Continue Reading
Power of Community Posts: Conversation is the New Influencer
Research by Reddit, about Reddit – At CES 2025, Reddit released research outlining how conversation is becoming an influencer throughout the purchase journey. “In the last year, our research has shown that 47% of social media users say “irrelevant search terms” are the most frustrating aspects of their product research). That is in part why… Continue Reading
Siri “unintentionally” recorded private convos; Apple agrees to pay $95M
Ars Technica: “Apple has agreed (PDF) to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant Siri routinely recorded private conversations that were then sold to third parties for targeted ads. In the proposed class-action settlement (PDF) — which comes after five years of litigation — Apple admitted to no wrongdoing. Instead,… Continue Reading
Inside Pinterest’s quest to restore internet optimism
Fast Company – “Most social media platforms have devolved into a network of bottom-feeders and rage-baiters. Yet somehow, Pinterest has kept its joy. According to Sprout Social’s 2024 content strategy report, more than half of social users think of Pinterest as “more positive” than other platforms. When Bill Ready became Pinterest’s CEO in 2022, he… Continue Reading
This Site Offers RSS Feeds for Pages That Don’t Have Them
Lifehacker: “Several sites, including Tumblr and Craigslist, have removed their RSS feeds. Other services, like TikTok, never offered an RSS feeds to begin with. This is annoying if you want to follow things without creating an account, the way you can with Bluesky and Mastodon. Even worse: there are even some news sites that don’t… Continue Reading
Cash is King: The surprising truth about spending habits in a cashless world
University of Surrey: “In a paper published in Qualitative Market Research, researchers detail as cash fades from our wallets, so too does our awareness of spending, leading to impulsive and unnecessary purchases. The study suggests that maintaining a physical element in our payment systems may be vital for promoting responsible spending behaviours. Dr Jashim Khan,… Continue Reading
What is your digital footprint and how can you protect it?
Proton VPN Blog: “Whenever you do something online, you leave a trail of information behind that can be used to uniquely identify and track you. This is your digital footprint(new window). In this article, we’ll look at: What is a digital footprint? Digital footprint examples Why does your digital footprint matter? How to check your… Continue Reading
Amazon Privacy Hacks: How I Keep My Shopping History to Myself
Make Use Of Quick Links Make Your Profile and Wish Lists Private Disable Interest-Based Ads Disable Amazon Search History Use a Private Browser Shopping on Amazon is awesome until you realize third parties can pry into your shopping habits. Thankfully, there are a few ways to protect your privacy on the world’s largest e-commerce platform. Continue Reading
Social media needs (dumpster) fire exits
Pluralistic: “Of course you should do everything you can to prevent fires – and also, you should build fire exits, because no matter how hard to you try, stuff burns. That includes social media sites. Social media has its own special form of lock-in: we use social media sites to connect with friends, family members,… Continue Reading
Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024
Pew: Most teens use social media and have a smartphone, and nearly half say they’re online almost constantly. “Nine-in-ten teens report using YouTube, slightly down from 95% in 2022. Roughly six-in-ten teens say they use TikTok and Instagram, and 55% say the same for Snapchat. YouTube tops the list of the online platforms we asked… Continue Reading
