Chicago Tribune – “Fake reviews on Amazon.com during the pandemic have reached levels typically seen during the holiday shopping season. About 42% of 720 million Amazon reviews assessed by the monitoring service Fakespot from March through September were unreliable, up from about 36% for the same period last year. The rise in fake reviews corresponded… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Commerce
When New York’s Strand Bookstores asked for help, 25,000 online orders flooded in
Washington Post – Readers rushed to the aid of the iconic bookseller after its owner called on them to #savethestrand – “…Founded in 1927 by Benjamin Bass, a Jewish Lithuanian immigrant, with $300 in cash and a $300 loan, Strand grew into one of the largest independent book houses in New York. It is one… Continue Reading
How bookstores are weathering the pandemic
Vox – Independent bookstores are doing everything they can to stay in business. “..Powell’s and other independent bookstores across the country face an uncertain and undoubtedly difficult future: Government assistance has dried up, foot traffic is still low, and the virus is again threatening to bring everything to a screeching halt. Independent bookstore owners dug… Continue Reading
Apple, Google and a Deal That Controls the Internet
The New York Times – In a landmark antitrust complaint, the Justice Department is targeting a secretive partnership that is worth billions of dollars to both companies. “…Last Tuesday, the Justice Department filed a landmark lawsuit against Google — the U.S. government’s biggest antitrust case in two decades — and homed in on the alliance… Continue Reading
Consumer Reports Study Finds Marketplace Demand for Privacy and Security
Consumer Reports – “American consumers are increasingly concerned about privacy and data security when purchasing new products and services, which may be a competitive advantage to companies that take action towards these consumer values, a new Consumer Reports study finds. The new study, “Privacy Front and Center” from CR’s Digital Lab with support from Omidyar… Continue Reading
How does Google’s monopoly hurt you? Try these searches.
Washington Post [paywall – Seattle Times no paywall] “Let’s Google together. Open a Web browser and search for T-shirts. I’ll wait. Is the first thing you see a search result? I’m not talking about the stuff labeled Ads or Maps. On my screen, the actual result is not in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth,… Continue Reading
It’s Google’s World. We Just Live in It
The New York Times – “Googling something was all we once did with Google. Now we spend hours a day using its maps, videos, security cameras, email, smartphones and more….It isn’t just that I am spending more time in a Google search, either. The Silicon Valley company has leveraged the act of looking for something… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 18, 2020
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 18, 2020 – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly… Continue Reading
Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Investigation Reveals Digital Economy Highly Concentrated, Impacted By Monopoly Power
House Committee on the Judiciary – Chair Jerrold Nadler: “The House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee today released the findings of its more than 16-month long investigation into the state of competition in the digital economy, especially the challenges presented by the dominance of Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook and their business practices. The report, entitled… Continue Reading
This is how police request customer data from Amazon
TechCrunch: “Anyone can access portions of a web portal, used by law enforcement to request customer data from Amazon, even though the portal is supposed to require a verified email address and password. Amazon’s law enforcement request portal allows police and federal agents to submit formal requests for customer data along with a legal order,… Continue Reading
1Password Brings Virtual Burner Credit Cards to Your Browser
Gizmodo: “At this point, you probably know that you should use some sort of password manager to juggle all your logins across the web. Even if you don’t actually do it, you know you should. Now, 1Password wants to make virtual credit cards an easy obligation with a unique new program. The popular password manager… Continue Reading
The High Privacy Cost of a “Free” Website
The Markup:”…An array of free website-building tools, many offered by ad-tech and ad-funded companies, has led to a dizzying number of trackers loading on users’ browsers, even when they visit sites where privacy would seem paramount, an investigation by The Markup has found. Some load without the website operators’ explicit knowledge—or disclosure to users. Website… Continue Reading
