Popular note-taking and general reminder app Evernote had big plans for 2017. In January, it was going to start feeding all your personal content to an algorithm in order to improve internal machine learning. But those plans allowed for human employees to peek over the robot’s shoulder to see your stuff, which users objected to loudly enough that now those plans are on hold. [More]
privacy policies
Study: 98% Of Us Will Sign Away Our Firstborn Because We Don’t Read The Terms Of Service
By 7.13.16
“Click here if you have read and agree to the Terms of Service.” How many times in your life — heck, how many times just this month, or this year — have you hovered over that little ticky box without bothering to click the TOS link first? Or scrolled straight to the bottom of a pop-up window with 17 pages of boring legalese in it, just to continue installation? If your answer is anything other than “all the times,” you are in a very, very small minority. [More]
Sen. Al Franken Has A Few Questions About Oculus Rift’s Privacy Policy
By 4.8.16
While we’ve been talking about virtual reality for decades, the current slate of VR headsets marks the first time we’ve seen anything close to widespread adoption of the technology. And when one of the leading companies in the field also happens to be owned by a company that makes billions of dollars tracking your online behavior, you can’t fault people for being concerned about privacy.
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New Online Tool Shows You What The Heck Privacy Policies Actually Say
By 3.11.16
We’ve talked about privacy policies a lot before. While they exist to give consumers information about what data is being collected and how it’s being used, they tend to share one big problem in common: aside from a few exceptions, most privacy policies are utterly impenetrable for the average reader. [More]
3 Common Misconceptions & 1 Important Truth About Privacy Policies
By 1.13.16
It’s right there, somewhere. Buried deep in a menu under “legal” in an app, or lurking somewhere in the footer of a website that never seems to stop adding content while you scroll. Each of us encounters dozens of them every day and yet most of us never give any thought to them. It is, of course, the privacy policy. [More]
What Does Spotify’s New Privacy Policy Actually Say, And Should I Be Worried?
By 8.21.15
Spotify has basically run away with the music market over the last couple of years, boasting over 75 million active users. But the popular streaming service this week ticked off a bunch of those customers this week when it updated its privacy policy and user terms and conditions. And their timing couldn’t have been worse: the combination of seeming to add a dramatic and invasive new set of permissions to their apps, in a week when privacy concerns and hacks are already the top headline, set off an angry internet firestorm. [More]
Uber Proposes Simpler Privacy Policy, Will Let Riders See Their Ratings
By 5.29.15
One feature of ride-hailing app Uber that’s meant to keep riders from acting like complete jerks is mutual rating: passengers rate their drivers, sure, but drivers also rate passengers. Secretly. Users can’t see their own ratings, but they could prevent someone from being picked up at a busy time. The company has promised to clarify its privacy policy and allow passengers to see their own ratings. [More]
RadioShack Will Not Be Selling Your Phone Number To New Owners
By 5.20.15
If you’re part of the 117 million or so names on RadioShack’s mailing list, we have good and bad news for you. Today, the Shack and various states’ attorneys general came to an agreement about what customer data may be sold to RadioShack’s new owners, and under what circumstances. Everyone has agreed that the Shack won’t be handing over customer phone numbers, but they also will be giving people on the mailing list only a week to opt out. [More]
Samsung Clarifies Smart TV Privacy Policy That Freaked Everyone Out
By 2.10.15
This past weekend, someone noticed that Samsung reserves the right to record things we say near our TVs and upload them to a third party, and for some reason this freaked people out. Samsung has solved the problem by removing the problematic sentence from their privacy policy, replacing it with an expanded explanation of what uploading your speech to a third party really means. [More]
What You Say To Your Samsung Smart TV Is ‘Transmitted To A Third Party’
By 2.9.15
It was almost three years ago that we started to wonder whether it was possible for smart TVs to watch and listen to anyone in the immediate area of the television. It’s possible, but could it really happen? Over the weekend, the Daily Beast pointed out a single incredibly creepy sentence in the privacy policy for Samsung’s smart TVs, and we all began to wonder what our TV sets are really up to. [More]
TRUSTe To Pay $200K Fine In Settlement With FTC Over Allegations It Deceived Consumers
By 11.17.14
In this day and age where a new security breach is announced every other week, some consumers may be reassured that their web surfing is secure after seeing a TRUSTe certificate plastered on the bottom of a web page. But we’re finding out that’s not always the case, as the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with TRUSTe over allegations it deceived consumers about its recertification program for companies’ privacy practices. [More]
Banks Can Stop Wasting Stamps; Can Post Privacy Disclosures Online Instead
By 10.20.14
Customers of some banks may be receiving one less communication by mail following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s finalization of a rule to promote more effective privacy disclosures. Translation: some banks can post their privacy notices online rather than slapping a stamp on them. [More]
Heads Up: Foursquare Announces Changes To Privacy Policy, Will Share Your Full Name
By 12.31.12
Just reading the words “privacy policy” and “changes” tends to raise more than a few sets of hackles these days, in light of Instagram’s recent debacle. And now Foursquare is wading into the “we’re changing things, but please don’t freak out!” ring by emailing users that there have been a few tweaks to the service’s privacy policy. [More]
Some Of Those Threats Weren’t Empty: 25% Of Instagram Users May Have Quit Over TOS
By 12.28.12
UPDATE 4:15 p.m.: It seems those numbers from AppData indicating that Instagram is leaking users aren’t quite all they’re cracked up to be. To that end, a spokeswoman for Instagram denies the app is losing users, saying in a statement: “We continue to see strong and steady growth in both registered and active users of Instagram.” [More]
It Was Only A Matter Of Time: Instagram Hit With Civil Lawsuit Over Terms Of Service
By 12.26.12
While many of us were hanging our stockings with care on Monday evening, Facebook and Instagram were facing a far less cheery Christmas present in the form of a proposed class action lawsuit filed in a federal court in California. Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like a little legal action against a ginormous social network, right? [More]
Instagram’s Most Followed User Kim Kardashian Might Totally Break Up With It
By 12.20.12
Despite the backpedaling Instagram performed on Tuesday night in the wake of a widespread backlash against its controversial new terms of service and privacy policy, the social media service is still facing the prospect of losing a lot of users. And if it loses its most followed user, things could be even worse. Do you really want Kim Kardashian to leave and possibly take a chunk of her 5.7 million followers with her, Instagram? Well, do ya? [More]
1-In-5 Internet Users Always Read Privacy Policies, But That Doesn’t Mean They Understand What They’re Reading
By 11.28.12
Though everyone is always saying “You’ve got to read the fine print,” most of us don’t do it. According to a new study, only 16% of Internet users claim to always read privacy policies of the sites and online services with which they share their private information. [More]
How The Biggest Sites Are Stalking You And Reselling Your Info
By 7.29.11
Most websites you visit are monitoring your behavior, even after you leave. They install little files like cookies, beacons, and flash cookies to see where you go, what you buy, even what text you’re typing. WSJ analyzed the tracking behavior of the top 50 websites online to see how each of them is watching your every step, and then reselling the info to the highest bidder. For instance, did you know that Dictionary.com gives its users up to 159 cookies, 23 flash cookies and 41 beacons for third parties? [More]
