Junkbusters Corp., an organization whose declared mission is to stop spam, sent a letter to the FTC on April 22 requesting that the agency investigate discrepancies in the privacy statements posted by eBay as they result in the dissemination of personal data without customer knowledge.
Junkbusters President Jason Catlett contends that eBay’s use of two different privacy statements (a shorter version, and a longer version which discloses the release of customer data to third parties without their consent) constitutes a deceptive practice.
This complaint to the FTC was concurrent with another one made by EPIC about Amazon’s privacy policies in regard to minors.
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Daily Archives: April 24, 2003
MT Owners Will Release Competitor to Blogger
Movable Type founders Ben and Mena Trott announced that their company Six Apart Ltd. will soon release “TypePad, a hosted service providing powerful tools for creating full-featured weblogs.” See also, Eyeing Blogger, Creators of Movable Type Expand. Looks as if Google now has some formidable competition in the BlogSphere! Continue Reading
Online Docket Databases Speed Research
Getting Wired Is Part of Research reviews technology options available to access online court dockets and filings from federal and state courts. Two services mentioned are the comprehensive CourtExpress.com (fee-based) and CourtWeb (which is limited to selected rulings from participating U.S. District Court judges). Continue Reading
ABA 2003 Lawyer Survey Available Online
From the ABA’s Market Research Department, news that the 2003 ABA National Lawyer Population Survey is available here. In addition to this data, the site provides access to other ABA research and statistics about the profession (demographics, women in law, salaries, quality of life, law firm rankings, corporate counsel, etc.) as well as links to… Continue Reading
Resource on HIPAA Privacy Rule
The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) posted an Early Release on April 11, HIPAA Privacy Rule and Public Health Guidance from CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (pdf). This 24 page report includes an overview of the new privacy rule, as well numerous links to related online resources from… Continue Reading
CDC Provides SARS Resource Guide
The Centers for Disease Control has a launched a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) website, which is updated daily. This site is an excellent example of the power of a content-driven e-gov resource whose goal is to educate the public and disseminate accurate, topical, current information. See also this excellent resource on the subject from… Continue Reading
European E-Business Legal Portal Launched
The EU announced a plan in December 2002 to create a European E-business Legal Portal with the stated purpose of facilitating electronic cross-border transactions. On schedule, the Commission launched the site, eBusiness Lex that “contains information and resources on a range of relevant issues, including contractual aspects, online payments, privacy and data protection and intellectual… Continue Reading
Google Makes Major Acquisition
Google is onboard the money train with their acquisition of Applied Semantics, “a company that makes software that analyzes the content of Web sites in order to match them with appropriate advertising,” according to this Reuter’s story. See the Google press release here, which states, “Applied Semantics’ products and engineering team will strengthen Google’s search… Continue Reading
