According to lawsuits filed by five women, a St. Louis plastic surgeon violated their privacy, advertising his skills by posting naked pictures of them on his site. [More]
privacy
Senators Blumenthal And Franken Ask Social Intelligence Corp About Using Your Facebook Photos In Employer Background Checks
By 9.26.11
Senators Blumenthal and Franken have figuratively posted on Social Intelligence Corp’s Facebook wall a poll asking the company to answer several questions about its background check business. What makes this company’s service unique is that it scours the internet profiles of prospective employees and flags them for things like holding drinks or holding guns. [More]
OnStar Says Not To Worry About It Tracking Your Car Even After You Cancel It
By 9.26.11
Last week, OnStar raised some eyebrows when they emailed their customers to say that the company will tracking their car even after they canceled service. They then followed up with an emailed statement to the press to let everyone know they’re not bad guys. [More]
Netflix Wants You To Ask Congress To Let It Stream On Facebook
By 9.23.11
Netflix would like to buddy up with Facebook, but a 1988 law called the Video Privacy Protection Act, which makes it illegal to publish customers’ rental history, prevents it from doing so. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings noted the legal roadblock at Facebook’s f8 conference Thursday, and the company publicly asked customers for support. [More]
Judge Holds Up Borders Sale Due To Privacy Concerns
By 9.23.11
Things are so bad for Borders that the company can’t even seem to fail properly. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge threw a hurdle in front of the proposed $15.8 million sale of intellectual property to Barnes & Noble, demanding that paperwork must clarify privacy rights for 48 million customers whose data will be swapped in the transaction. [More]
Another Customer Sues Starbucks Over Bathroom Cam
By 9.22.11
After his 5-year-old daughter spotted a hidden camera in a D.C. Starbucks bathroom, a man is suing the company and asking for $1 million in damages on four counts, including breach of privacy. [More]
How To Get Rid Of The Facebook News Ticker
By 9.21.11
Facebook rolled out some new tweaks this week, like adding a real-time “ticker” of all your friends’ updates in the right sidebar, and making pictures bigger in the news feed, along with a few other tweaks. Some people woke up to them and promptly starting making Facebook status updates on how much they hate the new Facebook. Well, there’s a few ways to roll them back and get the “old” Facebook. [More]
OnStar Now Tracking Your Car Even After You Cancel Service
By 9.21.11 — Updated: 3.28.13
OnStar sent around an email to users this week letting them know they’ll be keeping close tabs on their cars, even if they cancel the service. The navigation-and-emergency service will keep tracking your car, and the company is reserving the right to anonymously resell the collected data to third parties. [More]
Judge Says Couple Can Sue Laptop Security Business For Recording Sex Chats
By 8.31.11
Security companies that track down stolen laptops don’t necessarily have the right to peek into virtual bedrooms. A U.S. District judge ruled that there are potential grounds for a jury to find that a company violated a couple’s privacy when it recorded their sex chats as it attempted to track down a stolen laptop the woman was using. [More]
Federal Court: Massachusetts Law Against Recording Of On-The-Job Cops Is Unconstitutional
By 8.29.11
A federal appeals court ruled that the people have the right to record police officers when they’re on the job in public. A U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals judge found that a Massachusetts law used to ban such actions is unconstitutional. [More]
Illinois College Is First To Ask Applicants If They're Gay
By 8.26.11
Those who are applying to private Illinois liberal arts school Elmhurst College will face a question that’s apparently never been asked by a college admissions system: “Would you consider yourself a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community?” [More]
Facebook Refines Privacy Settings, Seemingly In Response To Google+
By 8.24.11
Facebook has taken steps to make it easier to pinpoint which people can see things you post. Rather than forcing you to juggle settings on your profile, the site displays the groups who can view each individual post in a drop-down menu next to it. The move seems geared to match a similar setup on Google+. [More]
How To Get People Search Sites Off Your Tail
By 8.22.11
People-finder sites stockpile and sell information to the curious — often to entities from which you’ve kept the data for a reason. If you’re concerned about your privacy, there are ways to opt out of these search sites. [More]
Former Cop Accused Of Using WiFi From Neighbors, Businesses To Get Child Porn
By 8.16.11
If you need motivation to encrypt your WiFi signal, consider the possibility that criminals may try to use your network for illegal activity. A former Tennessee police officer allegedly victimized churches, businesses and neighbors, using their WiFi to download child porn and share it with an online ring via a site he accessed at times while on duty. [More]
Web Analytics Firm, 20 Clients Sued For Web Tracking
By 8.4.11
There’s big business in tracking web browsing, and temptation to grab more information than is legally acceptable. A lawsuit alleges a web analytics company and its clients stepped over the line in snooping on browsing habits, particularly of those who try to cover their tracks. [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]
Law From 1988 Keeps Netflix And Facebook From Buddying Up
By 7.26.11
Back in the late 1980s, lawmakers were determined to prevent movie rental companies from publishing customers’ rental history. The Video Privacy Protection Act made violations punishable by $2,500 per offense. Now the law is causing headaches for Facebook and Netflix because it’s reportedly written in a way that would forbid Netflix from publishing your rental history on your Facebook page. [More]
Researcher: 8 Percent Of Android Apps Leak Private Info
By 7.21.11
Free apps sometimes come at a hidden cost, because malicious software can come in seemingly harmless forms, exposing personal data and sending spammy text messages from users’ accounts. An anti-malware service provider studied 10,000 Android apps found that 800 of the programs were spreading personal data around, and 11 were spamming phony text messages. [More]
