Entries from March 2011 ↓
March 21st, 2011 | Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Reputation.com News | Rob Frappier
Last week, the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing on “The State of Online Consumer Privacy.” During the hearing, several senators talked with Internet privacy activists, data researchers, and advertisers on the subject of online privacy, and, more specifically, on the feasibility of a “Do Not Track” mandate that would require Internet advertisers to give consumers the ability to opt-out of online tracking.
In an editorial today for the Huffington Post, Reputation.com Founder and CEO Michael Fertik talked about the Senate privacy hearings and why the focus on Do Not Track, while useful, may lead consumers to believe that Internet advertising is the most compelling privacy issue at stake.
In his op-ed, Fertik writes that, “Creepy behavioral advertising is the most visible symptom of our privacy-deficient society, but it is not the ultimate problem.”
Fertik explains further:
Every overly-familiar advertisement (“how did it know that I’ve put on a few pounds recently?”) is just a reminder that many companies will sell every bit of personal information they have about you in exchange for a few pennies of revenue. But the real problem is that there is such a marketplace in personal information at all, not just that it is exploited for advertising.
The drive to make money from your personal information is much larger than online advertising. Your data is packaged and sold to every bidder, not just those that use it to show ads in your browser. Legislation that papers over creepy online advertisements might make the problem less visible, but it won’t make our privacy foundations solid. Unless we follow with comprehensive privacy reform, then headlines about “do-not-track” will only provide false hope.
The issues at stake here are greater than what can be achieved with “do not track” legislation alone. Legislators must realize that, beyond Internet tracking, consumer data is being used an even more insidious way. Whether it’s insurance companies using detailed personality profiles to deny claims, or employers making hiring decisions based on online data, the real threat for consumers is how their information is being packaged and sold without their knowledge or consent.
As the data privacy debate heats up on Capitol Hill, it is important that legislators keep this reality in mind. It’s taken a long time for Congress to recognize the importance of online privacy, and it would be regrettable if the action it took was too weak to offer significant consumer protection.
March 21st, 2011 | CyberBullying, Facebook, Google, Internet Safety, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Parenting, Privacy, Quick Hits | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about unwanted friend requests, Netflix’s privacy-related legal problems, and a new website that allows anonymous bashing of Facebook profiles.
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Roberto Loiederman’s column in the Baltimore Sun discusses what to do if you are contacted on Facebook by someone you haven’t talked to in years, and you don’t want to accept their friend request. Interestingly, Loiederman writes from the perspective of being the person sending the message. His anecdote about getting rejected by an old friend is telling, and offers an important lesson for social media users.
France became the latest in a line of European countries to take legal action against Google over assertions that the company collected unsecured wireless data via its Street View vehicles last year. France’s online privacy regulatory agency fined Google $142,000, a drop in the hat for the multi-billion dollar company. It is unclear at this point whether Google will pay or appeal the fine.
According to PCWorld, “Yahoo has anticipated a new European Union directive by introducing a feature designed to ensure Web users’ privacy through the use of an opt-out button for cookies.” The feature will allow users to click an “AdChoices” button placed in the upper right-hand corner of online ads. Clicking the icon will “provide users with information about Yahoo’s advertising business and the chance to opt out of cookies.” Yahoo’s plan is consistent with similar self-regulatory approaches, but may not completely comply with European Union directive.
According to a CNET report, “Netflix, the Web’s top video-rental service, has been accused of violating U.S. privacy laws in five separate lawsuits filed in the past two months.” Each lawsuit charges that Netflix retains user data, including billing information and rental histories, long after customers have stopped using the service, which may be a violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).
In comments before an Australian Senate committee on cybersafety, Facebook’s Chief privacy adviser Mozelle Thompson defended his company’s record on prohibiting underage users from accessing the site. While answering a question related to the many under-13 users on Facebook, Thompson said that Facebook removes “around 20,000 underage users globally each day.” Thompson also touted the company’s commitment to cybersafety issues and involvement in various working groups on the issue.
In his “Technically Incorrect” column, CNET’s Chris Matyszczyk discusses a new website called AboutEveryone.com that gives users the opportunity “to vent your real feelings about your Facebook friends.” After sharing some pretty awful examples of how the site has been used so far, Matyszczyk wisely writes, “I fear this site will become the repository of much trouble. I fear the odor of retaliations and lawsuits. I fear it is another site that can only, in the end, offer pain and anguish to the innocent just as much as to the guilty. Yes, I fear many people are going to love it.”
March 18th, 2011 | Facebook, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Parenting, Privacy, Quick Hits | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about an unusual new military operation involving social media, a class-action privacy lawsuit against Netflix, and a cyberbullying incident in a large New York state high school.
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The US military recently awarded a contract to a California company to develop so-called “sock puppet” technology that allows US military personnel to control numerous fake social media profiles to counter anti-American and terrorist chatter online. The sophisticated operation, which wouldn’t operate on American websites such as Facebook or Twitter, but only on foreign websites, calls for technology aimed at “degrading the enemy narrative.” If the military were to use this technology on American websites, it would likely run afoul of anti-impersonation laws.
In an op-ed for The Guardian newspaper, Tessa Mayes argues that the European Union’s moves toward a “right to be forgotten” law that would help individuals control their online reputations is misguided. Mayes writes that “a right to be forgotten is about extreme withdrawal, and in its worse guise can be an antisocial, nihilist act.” Mayes’ literal interpretation of “forgotten,” which suggests that individuals would essentially disappear from the Web, is not necessarily consistent with what the law would actually entail, which is more of a right to data privacy and personal reputation management.
A high school in Westchester County, New York is dealing with fallout over something called the “Westchester SMUT List.” The list includes the names of at least one hundred female students at a local high school ranked in order based on their alleged sexual activity. The page accumulated as many as 7,000 fans. The school is investigating who created the page and is consulting with an attorney to determine what the appropriate punishment should be. In recent years, schools have been forced to deal with bullying online content among students, but have not always been clear about how to punish students for actions taken during non-school hours.
The popular movie rental company Netflix is facing a class action lawsuit from subscribers over claims that the company retains user information regarding payment and viewing histories after they have canceled their accounts. This is not the first time Netflix has faced lawsuits over privacy issues. A couple of years ago, a woman sued Netflix after the company opened up its recommendation algorithm to researchers for a contest. Two researchers were then able to cross-reference the anonymous Netflix data with public online profiles to discover the identities of users.
March 17th, 2011 | Facebook, Google, Internet Safety, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, the EU cracks down on privacy, Google may introduce Google Circles, and Lady Gaga is the centerpiece of a new Facebook scam.
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American Companies Must Comply With European Privacy Rules
The European Union is in the process of overhauling its data privacy laws, and EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has made it clear that American companies are not exempt. In a recent speech, Reding said that American companies like Facebook and Google “must adhere” to EU privacy laws in order to continue to have a presence in EU countries. Reding explained that, “to enforce the EU law, national privacy watchdogs shall be endowed with powers to investigate and engage in legal proceedings against non-EU data controllers whose services target EU consumers.”
Google’s Social Network to Focus on Privacy?
Coming out of the South by Southwest technology conference, many tech pros were talking about Google Circles, the alleged name of Google’s new social product. Google has denied the name, and the project, but it’s been known for a long time that Google is developing something social to fend off Facebook. This article from Fox News discusses some of the rumors swirling around Google Circles, including plans for the product to focus on privacy and a small, tight-knit network of contacts rather than the broad networks on Facebook. Would that approach be enough to attract new users?
Lady Gaga is a Man Scam Sweeps Facebook
A new scam is sweeping across Facebook, infecting celeb-obsessed social media users with malware. According to ZDNet, the scam, which appears as a link saying “EXCLUSIVE – Proof That Lady Gaga is a MAN!”, tricks users into clicking the link and installing malware on their computer. The link then spreads via the user’s Facebook network. As always, the lesson here is to be careful what you click on Facebook, particularly if it’s a piece of juicy celebrity gossip.
Social Media Strategist Fired for Chrysler “F-Bomb” Tweet Apologizes
Recently, a 28-year-old social media strategist was fired for accidentally sharing an expletive and insulting message about Detroit on the official Twitter account for Chrysler Autos. Compounding the damage, Chrysler also severed relations with the social media consulting company as a whole. In all, it was a pretty messy example of how social media management can go wrong. In a recent interview, the fired social media strategist apologized for the incident and the dark shadow it cast on his former company’s reputation.
March 16th, 2011 | Facebook, Google, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about this morning’s Senate privacy hearing, a new change to Facebook’s commenting system, and how a bullying victim became an Internet folk hero.
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In a Senate hearing today on Internet privacy, Larry Strickling, an official with the United States Commerce Department told senators that “the [Obama] administration now recommends that Congress enact legislation” on Internet privacy. The administration’s support comes after the Commerce Department’s December Green Paper on Internet privacy policies.
In 2004, when the company was just starting, Facebook filed a patent request for “curated search” technology. The patent, which was awarded this past February, demonstrates that Facebook has been thinking about search since its earliest days. In the past year, Facebook has become a more direct competitor to Google’s search empire.
Facebook lawyers sprung into action to stop the sale of an unlicensed Mark Zuckerberg action figure, called the “Poking Inventor.” The action figure shared Zuckerberg’s likeness and Facebook’s trademark logo. The company that created the action figure also released a figure of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, which they were also forced to stop selling after threats from Apple lawyers.
A tiny Facebook change may cause problems for users worldwide. Today, Facebook rolled out a change to its commenting system that allows users to post messages simply by hitting “enter” or “return” on their keyboards. Previously, hitting enter allowed users to insert a paragraph break into their comment. Now, you have to hit “shift” plus “enter” to insert a paragraph break. For those used to hitting enter to break up their comments, this change will likely mean a lot of half-finished and confusing messages.
After a video of a bullying victim retaliating against his bully went viral, the 16-year-old bullying victim has become an unlikely Web celebrity. The video, which shows a younger, smaller boy picking on a much larger older boy, has racked up hundreds of thousands of views online. In the video, the smaller boy punches the larger boy repeatedly and mocks him with a group of friends. A moment later in the video, the bigger boy picks the bully up and slams him down on the concrete floor. Both students were suspended for the altercation, which offers an unusual insight into the psyche of the Internet and how Web celebrities are made overnight, even over issues for which they shouldn’t necessarily be applauded.
