MediaPost Publications Court: IP Addresses Are Not 'Personally Identifiable' Information
MediaPost Publications Court: IP Addresses Are Not ‘Personally Identifiable’ Information 07/07/2009. Snip…..”Jules Polonetsky, co-chair and director of the think tank Future of Privacy Forum, adds that many sites with older privacy policies maintain they don’t collect personally identifiable information, but log IP addresses. “For many years, people just threw around the term personal information,” he […]
New Facebook Privacy Changes
Click on the below presentation to have a good look at the new Facebook privacy changes. Generally positive, in that Facebook will put all the privacy settings in one place and eliminate regional networks. So many users thought their profiles were open only to friends, but were in a regional network where default settings left […]
Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out (TACO) On A Roll
Privacy activist and technologist Chris Soghoian has updated his TACO opt-out plug-in to include 44 additional ad networks. Users who download TACO automatically get opt-out cookies from 84 ad networks, cookie tracking companies and others offering an opt-out cookie. Importantly, this opt-out sticks even if users inadvertently delete opt-out cookies. Since we well know that […]
The Political Ad Practice Insiders Want to Keep Secret – ClickZ
My cookie says I am a moderate Democrat soccer dad who is a “triple prime” voter. (Look it up, if you’re not a political geek like me). Folks who are paying attention to the privacy issues around behavioral advertising are very focused on ads targeted based on the Web sites you have visited. But, in […]
From Webtrends: Thoughts on Web 2.0 Cookie Transparency and Control
One analytics company, Webtrends, speaks up about how the federal government can use cookies. In a blog post and in a comment at the White House Open Government, site they make some sensible points about transparency and the use of first party domains. The ideas echo some of the proposals we and CDT have previously […]
Behavioral Advertisers Need to Change Their Behavior
Behavioral Advertisers Need to Change Their Behavior Roll Call By Jules Polonetsky June 22, 2009 On Thursday, two House Energy and Commerce subcommittees held a joint hearing to discuss something called “behavioral advertising,” the tracking of users’ Web site visits and searches in order to deliver tailored online advertisements. Almost a decade ago to the […]
Could Bozeman Montana city officials be prosecuted for Facebook snooping?
Bozeman city officials are requiring certain applicants to hand over social media passwords for background checks. From the Lori Drew case, we know that violating a social network site’s Terms of Service could be charged as a crime. Here is the relevant language in the Facebook Terms of Service. “You will not share your password, […]
What is a browser?
Relying on your privacy policy to give user’s notice and choice? Watch this video where 50 people in Times Square were asked “What is a browser?” It’s not exactly a scientific study, but you get the point about the communication challenges involved if reading a page about browsers, cookies and IP addresses is supposed to […]
In Depth Review of Social Networks and Privacy
Thanks to Prof. Michael Zimmer for his post about this University of Cambridge in depth comparison and study of social network privacy controls and policies. Kudos to my former Bebo colleagues for being rated on top of the pack. Not sure I agree with the conclusion that sites are intentionally playing a sophisticated communications name […]
Web Analytics Companies: Let Your Voices Be Heard!
Web Analytics Companies: Let Your Voices Be Heard! Over the past year, FPF and other groups including CDT , EFF and the Federal Web Managers Council have proposed revisions to the current limitations on use of cookies by the federal government.One area where many seem to agree is that allowing government to use […]