Opinion: Google’s store sales measurement data deal with Mastercard not ‘deceptive’
Bloomberg report zeroes-in on lack of consumer disclosure by the credit card issuer.
Topic: Electronic Privacy Information Center
SearchCap: Gboard update, Locadium launch & EPIC privacy
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Privacy group files flawed complaint against Google Store Sales MeasurementJul 31, 2017 by Greg Sterling EPIC gets the basic facts wrong about the data being used in Google program. Locadium: a […]
Privacy group files flawed complaint against Google Store Sales Measurement
EPIC gets the basic facts wrong about the data being used in Google program.
Google Gets Another Street View Privacy Fine — In Italy
It seems like each European country is taking its turn fining Google for some privacy infraction. This time, it’s Italy and involves Street View. Google has reportedly paid a roughly $1.4 million (1 million EUR) fine. According a story in Reuters, the issue this time was the failure to clearly mark Street View cars during […]
Privacy Groups Want Judge To Reject Google’s $8.5 Million Settlement Over Search Privacy Lawsuit
Last month, Google agreed to pay $8.5 million into a settlement fund over a class-action lawsuit by two searchers who accused the company of transmitting their personal information to third parties without their consent or knowledge that the information was being shared. The final court approval of the proposed settlement was scheduled for today, but […]
Google Says No To FBI’s National Security Letter, At Least This Time
Bloomberg News reports Google has filed a petition against a government request for information after receiving a “National Security Letter.” The details of the requested information are currently not disclosed, as you would imagine. Bloomberg says it is rare for a company to fight back after receiving such a request from a government agency. Reportedly […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 1, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Testing New, Google-y Local Search Results If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the folks at Bing Local are paying Google a very nice compliment with a new display […]
Google Is Watching You (Or Not): New Privacy Policy Takes Effect Today
With several governments and regulatory bodies around the world saying that Google’s new privacy policy may violate their domestic rules (Europe, Japan), it goes into effect today. Advocacy group EPIC has been trying to block it saying that the consolidated privacy policy violates Google’s earlier settlement with the FTC in the Buzz case/investigation. However that […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 16, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: How To Blackout Your Site (For SOPA/PIPA) Without Hurting SEO A number of websites are (or were) planning to “go black” this week while the U.S. Congress discusses issues related to […]
Report: FTC Expanding Anti-Trust Investigation Of Google To Include Google+
The wide-ranging Federal Trade Commission investigation into Google’s potential anti-competitive practices has been expanded to include its Google+ social networking service, according to a Bloomberg report citing “people familiar with the situation.” The news is likely to please critics like the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), which earlier this week called for the FTC to […]
SMX East 2011: Which Way Google?
Which Way Google? Presentations from SMX East – NYC, NY, September 2011 Google’s going through an extraordinary time. It faces anti-trust investigations in the US and the EU. Competitors worry more and more about it, as the company seems to continually expand into new areas, such as social. Some consumer groups worry about privacy issues […]
Now It’s Facebook’s Turn For 20 Years Of FTC Privacy Audits
According to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal the world’s largest social network is nearing a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that will subject the company to 20 years of “privacy audits.” A nearly identical punishment was imposed earlier this year on Google over “deceptive privacy practices in Google’s rollout […]
Facebook “Frictionless Sharing” Creating Friction With Privacy Advocates, Regulators
Mark Zuckerberg at F8, the Facebook developer conference held last week, exhorted people to “tell their life story” on Facebook via its new Timeline feature. Facebook also promoted new Open Graph apps integration and so-called “frictionless sharing.” But frictionless sharing is already creating a great deal of friction for Facebook in privacy circles and with […]
Live Blog: “Which Way Google?” At SMX East
Welcome! It’s the “Which Way Google?” panel here at SMX East. We’ve got a great panel — Jeff Jarvis, Steven Levy and Marc Rotenberg — set to cover a range of issues. Let’s live blog. This is new for me — I never live blog at my own conferences. But I saw the queen of […]
Live @SMX East: Google’s Future, & Book Signing By Bestselling Authors Levy & Jarvis
Google’s going through an extraordinary time. It faces anti-trust investigations in the US and the EU. Competitors worry more and more about it, as the company seems to continually expand into new areas, such as social. Some consumer groups worry about privacy issues and data collection. Some marketers worry that the company might be too […]
Google Gets Chance To Appeal In Street View Lawsuit
Just a couple weeks after the latest setback, Google picked up a small but potentially important victory today in its defense against charges that the company violated federal wiretap laws when its Street View cars intercepted personal data over unencrypted WiFi networks. As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, Judge James Ware has put the case […]
Google Settles FTC Charges Over Buzz, Agrees To 20 Years Of Privacy Audits
Google has agreed to have independent privacy audits over the next 20 years, to settle an FTC investigation into wrong doing over its Google Buzz product. The FTC has release a statement where Google agreed to allow independent audits of how Google handles privacy controls. After Google Buzz launched there was a lot of concern […]
Google Maps Privacy: The Street View & Wifi Scorecard
It seems not a week goes by without news of a new investigation into Google’s Street View service, or into Google’s collection of personal data via unencrypted WiFi networks that occurred over three years as Street View vehicles drove the world’s streets. It seems like one country opens an investigation just as another country ends […]
Canadian Government Reviewing Google Buzz; U.S. Govt. Next?
Postscript, February 17: The CBC article cited below has reworded its article and now says the Canadian government is “reviewing” rather than “investigating” Buzz. A semantic distinction, perhaps, but there’s apparently no formal government investigation happening in Canada at the moment, so we’ve updated our headline, too. We’ve also received a statement from Google on […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 18, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
New Privacy Complaint Filed Against Google (And The Cloud)
Yet another privacy complaint has been filed against Google with the FTC, this time by the Electronic Privacy Information Center over Google’s cloud computing services and related privacy and data security issues. While Google is the named party, the company is basically the stand-in for “the cloud” as a whole. (If you want to read […]
Google Voice: Next Generation Telco?
Maybe that headline overreaches a little but not entirely. For those that have been wondering whether Google’s GrandCentral acquisition, which the company made in mid 2007 and thereafter seemed to neglect, would suffer the same fate as Dodgeball or Jaiku . . . wonder no more. Using the GrandCentral infrastructure, and currently only available to […]
FTC Complaint Filed Over AskEraser: “Unfair & Deceptive”
Photo adapted from one by Hans Engel Some felt Ask.com won the privacy oneupmanship that went on last year when it rolled out Ask Eraser, a tool promising to stop recording any information about someone doing a search. But questions quickly came up, including whether the tool helped at all, considering that query data was […]
Google-DoubleClick Drama Moves To European Stage
Much of the discussion and debate in the U.S. over Google’s proposed acquisition of DoubleClick was about the impact of the deal on consumer privacy, even though that wasn’t technically part of the anti-trust analysis before the FTC. Accordingly, the FTC approved the acquisition with one commissioner dissenting largely on privacy grounds. Now, Pamela Jones […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 20, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Privacy Group Finds Flaws In AskEraser’s Privacy Tool
Group says Ask’s privacy feature is flawed from News.com reports that the Electronic Privacy Information Center has found a few flaws in AskEraser, Ask.com’s new privacy searching feature. The three problems are: AskEraser uses an opt-out cookie instead of an opt-in cookie. Ask stores the time that the user enables AskEraser, which can potentially be […]
The Politics & Policy Of The Google-DoubleClick Acquisition
Yesterday, Danny wrote a lengthy piece dispelling some of the myths and misinformation surrounding the pending Google acquisition of DoubleClick. Today CNET has two articles, one on the EU decision to apply more scrutiny to the proposed deal, as we expected, and another on privacy advocates’ concerns about the acquisition and the appropriate legal standards […]
Privacy Group Amends FTC Complaint Over Google/DoubleClick Acquisition
Groups want limits on Google from the San Francisco Chronicle reports that privacy groups have amended their complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over the Google & DoubleClick acquisition. The amendment (PDF format) requests that Google first obtain permission from their users before collecting any information about them. In addition, the privacy group would like […]
Federal Trade Commission Opens Antitrust Investigation Over Google’s DoubleClick Deal
Google Deal Said to Bring U.S. Scrutiny from the New York Times reports the Federal Trade Commission will be reviewing the proposed Google and DoubleClick acquisition. The preliminary antitrust investigation is to be conducted by the FTC and not the Justice Department, which is what privacy advocates wanted. The FTC will decide if they should […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 20, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Complaint Over Google-DoubleClick Acqusition Expected To Be Filed At FTC Today
Google draws privacy complaint to FTC from News.com reports three organizations are going to file a joint complaint today with the Federal Trade Commission over Google’s proposed acquisition of DoubleClick. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), along with the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and the U.S. Public Interest Research Groups (U.S. PIRG) are all […]
Google Anonymizing Search Records To Protect Privacy
Google has announced that it will now anonymize the server log data that it collects after 18 to 24 months, as a way to better protect the privacy of its users. Until now, Google has retained server log data in its original form indefinitely, which made it possible for anyone with access to those logs […]