Senators John Kerry and John McCain introduced an Internet privacy bill that would require companies to clearly spell out the types of data collected from consumers online, how it’s used and require corporate safeguards from hackers and other criminals. [More]
privacy
Texas Data Breach Exposes 3.5 Million Addresses, SSNs
By 4.12.11
Everything’s bigger in Texas. Even data breaches. As many as 3.5 million residents of the state found their personal data has been set free in a gaffe by the state government. [More]
Cyber Criminals Rent Out Unsuspecting Owners' PCs
By 4.11.11
When nefarious types are in need of remote PCs to do their dirty work, they can turn to underground, invitation-only services that rent out computers owned by marks who aren’t aware their hardware is being prostituted. [More]
Users Complain iPhone 4 Secretly Taking Their Photo
By 4.8.11
Some iPhone 4 users are complaining that their devices are secretly taking photos of themselves. [More]
Comcast Says It's Not Pulling My Credit Report, Then Pulls My Credit Report
By 4.5.11
Brian found himself in a troubling situation with Comcast. He was setting up service at his mother’s home, about thirty miles from, his home where he already had Comcast service. Comcast’s systems apparently aren’t set up to handle one person with separate accounts in different regions. A customer service rep told Brian that he would not be checking his credit report in order to set up the new service: then ran right up against the freeze Brian had put on his credit report in order to prevent unauthorized access. From, say, Comcast. [More]
Federal Grand Jury Investigates App Makers Over Privacy Issues
By 4.5.11
Pandora and other app makers received subpoenas related to a criminal federal investigation in which prosecutors are looking into claims that smartphone apps violate users’ privacy by illegally collecting and transmitting info. [More]
Modern Technology Is Stalking Your Every Move
By 3.30.11
Who knows where you are and what you’re thinking right now? Your phone company. If you carry a smartphone, or even a not-so-smart phone, your mobile phone carrier knows more about your whereabouts over the past few months than you’ll ever be able to remember. Comforting, isn’t it? [More]
Google Settles With FTC Over "Buzz," Agrees To 20 Years Of Privacy Audits
By 3.30.11
The FTC announced today that Google has settled with the commission over the “Buzz” privacy debacle — agreeing to 20 years of privacy audits. The commission said in a statement that this is the first time an FTC settlement order has required a company to implement a comprehensive program to protect the privacy of consumers’ information. [More]
Mass. Restaurant Chain Fined $110K For Data Breach
By 3.30.11
A Massachusetts restaurant chain agreed to pay a $110,000 fine to settle a complaint that alleged hackers nabbed customers’ credit card and debit card info in 2009. [More]
Etsy Sort Of Listens To Internet, Changes Privacy Defaults
By 3.15.11
Whimsy emporium Etsy finally sort of listened to its sellers, customers, and the entire Internet this afternoon when they changed a controversial feature that users claimed was a privacy breach. Users’ feedback history on the site is now private, and they can change those settings to become less private. Why did this matter? [More]
You Want Your Real Name Associated With Your Etsy Purchase History, Right?
By 3.15.11
Have you ever made a purchase on the crafty marketplace, Etsy? If you have, consider checking your privacy settings, since the site is beginning to have more in common with Facebook than an old-fashioned online bazaar. The company behind the site managed to annoy sellers, buyers, and more or less the entire Internet by changing its privacy policy earlier this year.
The changes allow users to search for their friends and marginal acquaintances’ Etsy usernames and feedback histories by e-mail address. Not all that different from most social networking sites… but most people who sign up to use Etsy do so to buy things, not to socialize and spy on what their friends are buying. Now, the full names of users who provided them to the site are available to the public and indexed by search engines by default. Users must opt out of these exciting new privacy-defying features.
Florida Motorists Illegally Detained For Paying With Large Bills
By 3.8.11
Is it a crime to pay a $1 toll with a $100 bill? The people responsible for counting out change might wish that it were, but paying a toll with legal tender isn’t a crime. Toll collectors in Florida allegedly asks motorists for personal information and illegally detained them for paying with bills deemed too large. Even better? Toll takers flagged and detained drivers paying with bills as small as $20 based on racial profiling. [More]
Lawsuit: GameStop Collects & Stores Customer Info
By 3.1.11
A class action lawsuit filed in California accuses GameStop of collecting and storing customers’ data, violating state law in the process. [More]
Block Unwanted Calls And Texts With PrivacyStar
By 2.28.11
It’s always puzzled me why smartphones are smart enough that I can toss virtual birds at virtual pigs, but they’re somehow too stupid to let me block unwanted calls or texts. Well now there’s PrivacyStar, an app for Android and Blackberry that lets you do just that. [More]
School Tracks Truant Students With GPS Devices
By 2.18.11
To combat seventh and eighth graders who constantly skip class, a school in California is equipping the worst offenders with GPS tracking units. If you have more than four unexcused absences, you’re assigned to carry a handheld GPs device. Five times a day you have enter in a code to verify your location. You also get an automated call in the morning reminding you to come to school and three times a week an adult assigned to you calls you to check in and discuss attendance strategies. The devices have increased attendance by truants to 95% up from 77%, but some parents feel it treats their kids “like common criminals.” Do you think this program is a good idea? Take our poll and sound off in the comments. [More]
CA Supreme Court: Stores Can't Ask For ZIP Code When You Pay By Credit Card
By 2.10.11
If you live in California and you’ve ever been annoyed or concerned about giving out your ZIP code when making a credit card purchase, the state’s Supreme Court has issued a ruling that should appeal to you. [More]
Change Your Old Amazon Password Now To Avoid This Cracking Risk
By 1.26.11
Some old Amazon account appear to have a flaw in their password protection scheme that makes them more vulnerable to a brute force cracking attempt. For affected accounts, if you haven’t changed your password in several years, and it’s over 8 characters long, it looks like all people have to do is enter the first 8 characters correctly and they’re in. Even if after the 8 characters they just type gobbledygook. [More]
Google And Mozilla Announce New "Do Not Track Me" Features
By 1.24.11
Google and Mozilla have posted that they’re adding new features to their browsers that will let users opt out of being tracked by third-party advertisers. The move comes a few weeks after the FTC issued a report recommending browser software developers to implement such a mechanism. [More]
