“Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote [July 19, 2022] to the top 15 mobile providers requesting information about their data retention and data privacy policies and general practices. In the letters of inquiry, Chairwoman Rosenworcel asks about their policies around geolocation data, such as how long geolocation data is retained and why and what… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Commerce
Amazon will recycle small electronics for free
The Verge: “If you have a flip phone that you haven’t used in over a decade, or maybe even a broken tablet, Amazon will pay for a shipping label that you can use to send it in to get recycled. Apparently, this recycling program has been a thing for a while now, but several of… Continue Reading
‘A uniquely dangerous tool’: How Google’s data can help states track abortions
Politico: “Many of the states rushing to ban abortion are also the biggest users of a surveillance tool that authorities could use to track women ending their pregnancies — the location data from people’s phones. Supporters of abortion rights are expressing growing alarm about the potential uses that police or prosecutors could find for this… Continue Reading
The email ‘hack’ that will change your relationship with your inbox
Fast Company: “I just reset my email. Took my unread count down to zero. Archived or deleted everything that was sitting in my inbox. And everything feels different now. More than any other possible binary the world presents us, I believe there are precisely two types of people in this world: those whose unread email… Continue Reading
Up to 90% of governmental websites include cookies of third-party tracke
IMDEA Networks: “Researchers Matthias Götze (TU Berlin), Srdjan Matic (IMDEA Software), Costas Iordanou (Cyprus University of Technology), Georgios Smaragdakis (TU Delft), and Nikolaos Laoutaris (IMDEA Networks) have presented at the ‘Web Science Conference’ the paper: “Measuring Web Cookies in Governmental Websites”, in which they investigate governmental websites of G20 countries and evaluate to what extent… Continue Reading
How browser cookies make people more cautious online
Fast Company: “Website cookies are online surveillance tools, and the commercial and government entities that use them would prefer people not read those notifications too closely. People who do read the notifications carefully will find that they have the option to say no to some or all cookies. The problem is, without careful attention those notifications become… Continue Reading
New Firefox privacy feature strips URLs of tracking parameters
Bleeping Computer: “Mozilla Firefox 102 was released today with a new privacy feature that strips parameters from URLs that are used to track you around the web. Numerous companies, including Facebook, Marketo, Olytics, and HubSpot, utilize custom URL query parameters to track clicks on links. For example, Facebook appends a fbclid query parameter to outbound… Continue Reading
The Surprising Reason Your Amazon Searches Are Returning More Confusing Results than Ever
WSJ: “Jeff Bezos wanted to build the ‘everything store’—and now the company is drowning in China-based sellers hawking the same items under a dizzying array of brands…Thanks to China’s freewheeling approach to trade, counterfeiting and consumer protection standards, China-based sellers on Amazon have developed a reputation for issues with quality and customer service that Amazon… Continue Reading
How to Stop Your Android Phone From Tracking You
MakeUseOf: “No matter where you go online, you’re being tracked. Apps and websites constantly monitor your activity and collect your data for all sorts of reasons. Your physical location, buying behavior, and media consumption habits all leave a trail every time you pick up your phone. If privacy is a big deal for you, this… Continue Reading
Could TikTok Be A Search Engine? For Many Users, It Already Is
Search Engine Journal: “A new generation of web users is utilizing TikTok as a search engine. What does that mean for marketers and publishers?…The growing use of TikTok as a search engine stems from several factors: Short attention spans Unsatisfactory Google results Visual learning styles..” Continue Reading
Google Is Sharing Our Data at a Startling Scale
Bloomberg: “It transmits our locations and browsing habits 70 billion times a day to advertisers amid trillions a year by other firms, a new report shows…Each time you open an app on your phone or browse the web, an auction for your eyeballs is taking place behind the scenes thanks to a thriving market for… Continue Reading
How the Federal Government Buys Our Cell Phone Location
EFF: “Over the past few years, data brokers and federal military, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies have formed a vast, secretive partnership to surveil the movements of millions of people. Many of the mobile apps on our cell phones track our movements with great precision and frequency. Data brokers harvest our location data from the… Continue Reading
