EFF Experts to Speak at Privacy Roundtable in Washington, D.C.: Via EFF.org Updates.

Washington, D.C. - On Wednesday, March 17, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is hosting its final public roundtable on technology privacy challenges in Washington, D.C. Two experts from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are taking part.

EFF Senior Staff Technologist Peter Eckersley and EFF Boardmember Edward W. Felten will discuss "Internet Architecture and Privacy" at the first panel of the day. Later panels will cover health information privacy and issues around other sensitive information, as well as lessons learned so far and future plans for privacy protection.

For more information on attending the roundtable including a full agenda, visit http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/privacyroundtables/index.shtml

WHAT:
FTC Roundtable "Internet Architecture and Privacy"

WHEN:
Wednesday, March 17
9:15 a.m. [ Read more ... ]

NetFlix Cancels Recommendation Contest After Privacy Lawsuit: Via Threat Level.

Netflix is canceling its second $1 million Netflix Prize to settle a legal challenge that it breached customer privacy as part of the first contest’s race for a better movie-recommendation engine.

Friday’s announcement came five months after Netflix had announced a successor to its algorithm-improvement contest. The company at the time said it intended to expand the amount of information it gave to researchers in hopes that its recommendation system — a key part of Netflix’s customer retention strategy — would get even better. That was then followed with a warning by prominent data privacy lawyers that the new dataset was easily de-anonymized.

Those fears were highlighted in December, when an in-the-closet lesbian mother sued Netflix for privacy invasion, alleging the movie-rental company made it possible for her to be outed when it disclosed insufficiently anonymous information about nearly half-a-million customers as part of its $1 million contest. [ Read more ... ]

Advertising - Instant Ads Set the Pace on the Web: Via NYTimes.com .

Now, companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft let advertisers buy ads in the milliseconds between the time someone enters a site’s Web address and the moment the page appears. The technology, called real-time bidding, allows advertisers to examine site visitors one by one and bid to serve them ads almost instantly.

For example, say a man just searched for golf clubs on eBay (which has been testing a system from a company called AppNexus for more than a year). EBay can essentially follow that person’s activities in real time, deciding when and where to show him near-personalized ads for golf clubs throughout the Web.

If eBay finds out that he bought a driver at another site, it can update the ad immediately to start showing him tees, golf balls or a package vacation to St. Andrew’s, Scotland, often called the home of golf. If a woman was shopping, eBay could change the ad’s color or presentation. [ Read more ... ]

Redrawing the Route to Online Privacy: Via NYT > Privacy.

ON the Internet, things get old fast. One prime candidate for the digital dustbin, it seems, is the current approach to protecting privacy on the Internet.

It is an artifact of the 1990s, intended as a light-touch policy to nurture innovation in an emerging industry. And its central concept is “notice and choice,” in which Web sites post notices of their privacy policies and users can then make choices about sites they frequent and the levels of privacy they prefer.

But policy and privacy experts agree that the relentless rise of Internet data harvesting has overrun the old approach of using lengthy written notices to safeguard privacy. [ Read more ... ]

FTC: Identity Theft Is No. 1 Consumer Complaint | Threat Level | Wired.com: Via Threat Level | Wired.com .

That’s because identity theft was the top consumer complaint for 2009, the Federal Trade Commission reported Wednesday.

It was also the top complaint from the year before, although 5 percent fewer consumers reported it in 2009, the commission said.

Overall, of the 1.3 million complaints the agency received last year, 21 percent were for identity theft. Debt collection agencies ranked second, with 9 percent of complaints, according to the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book released Wednesday. [ Read more ... ]

FTC Roundtable: Technology's Impact on Privacy: Via CDT - Center for Democracy & Technology.

In her opening remarks at the second of the FTC’s roundtables in its Exploring Privacy series, FTC Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour was characteristically observant in noting that the mobile space is “crying out for greater privacy.” She reminded us of the 100,000 mobile apps that have been developed for just one mobile platform (the iPhone) among many, but aptly noted that “there’s no app” to give users greater control over their mobile data and the ways that data generated by mobile devices can be used for consumer tracking. Across all the most popular mobile applications platforms (including iPhone and Android), there are nearly 3000 location-based applications, and surely only a fraction, if any, are designed to enhance location privacy rather than invade it. [ Read more ... ]

A Little ‘i’ to Teach About Online Privacy: Via NYT > Privacy.

A LITTLE blue symbol is carrying big implications.

Trying to ward off regulators, the advertising industry has agreed on a standard icon — a little “i” — that it will add to most online ads that use demographics and behavioral data to tell consumers what is happening.

Jules Polonetsky, the co-chairman and director of the Future of Privacy Forum, an advocacy group that helped create the symbol, compared it to the triangle made up of three arrows that tells consumers that something is recyclable.

The idea was “to come up with a recycling symbol — people will look at it, and once they know what it is, they’ll get it, and always get it,” Mr. Polonetsky said.

Most major companies running online ads are expected to begin adding the icon to their ads by midsummer, along with phrases like “Why did I get this ad?” [ Read more ... ]

FTC - Exploring Privacy: A Roundtable Series: Via FTC - Federal Trade Commission.

The Federal Trade Commission will host a series of day-long public roundtable discussions to explore the privacy challenges posed by the vast array of 21st century technology and business practices that collect and use consumer data. Such practices include social networking, cloud computing, online behavioral advertising, mobile marketing, and the collection and use of information by retailers, data brokers, third-party applications, and other diverse businesses. The goal of the roundtables is to determine how best to protect consumer privacy while supporting beneficial uses of the information and technological innovation. [ Read more ... ]

EFF Experts to Speak at FTC Privacy Roundtable: Via EFF.org Updates.

Berkeley, CA - On Thursday, January 28, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is hosting a day-long public roundtable in Berkeley, California, exploring the privacy challenges posted by new developments in technology. Three experts from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are taking part.

Panels at Thursday's roundtable include "Technology and Privacy," where EFF Staff Technologist Peter Eckersley will discuss the arms race between tracking technologies and privacy-enhancing technologies. Also on the agenda is "Privacy Implications of Mobile Computing" with EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston addressing privacy issues of location-based services and "Technology and Policy" with EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien discussing how privacy can be designed into new products. Other panels will tackle social networking services and cloud computing.

For more information on attending the roundtable including a full agenda, visit http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/privacyroundtables/index.shtml [ Read more ... ]

F.T.C.: Has Internet Gone Beyond Privacy Policies?: Via Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com .

Two top Federal Trade Commission officials questioned whether the Internet had evolved past privacy policies, at a meeting with editors and reporters of The New York Times today.

The chairman of the F.T.C., Jon Leibowitz, and David Vladeck, chief of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, stopped by for an on-the-record chat about online privacy and the news business, among other topics. Mr. Leibowitz was appointed chairman in 2009 after five years at the commission, while Mr. Vladeck is a relatively new arrival to the F.T.C.

Both have signaled to Internet publishers and advertisers that they expect the commission to take a more active role in safeguarding consumer privacy, a subject they discussed on Monday. [ Read more ... ]

FTC reminds us that storing data in the cloud has drawbacks: Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.

Take Google's new Nexus One phone as a case study of the pros and cons of storing life details on remote servers. Nexus One phones can back up their complete settings to Google's servers, including data such as "Wi-Fi passwords, bookmarks, a list of the applications you've installed, the words you've added to the dictionary used by the onscreen keyboard, and most of the settings that you configure with the Settings application." Get a new phone and the data transfers easily. [ Read more ... ]

Update: FTC to Facebook: We aren't movie business, we don't greenlight privacy policies: Via .

Update: Facebook issues response, clarifying that it didn't seek approval from FTC for new privacy policy.

Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, wants to clear the air about Facebook's new privacy policy and the company's recent suggestion that his agency checked it out before it was launched.

"We aren't generally in the business of giving general advisory opinion in advance. I certainly don't think anyone would suggest that we would pre-clear their new privacy policy," he said. "It may be good. It may be better or it may not be better. But we aren't the film industry; we don't greenlight like the film industry does."

The comments were in response to Post Tech's questions about complaints by privacy groups that Facebook's recent change in privacy settings can, in some cases, expose more of the personal data of its 300 million users. [ Read more ... ]

FTC complaint says Facebook's privacy changes are deceptive: Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.

Facebook claimed it was doing the world a favor when it updated how the site handles privacy settings earlier this month, but the change has done nothing but get the company in even more hot water. Amid heavy criticism from rights and privacy groups, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the changes that it says mislead users and "contradict Facebook’s own representations." [ Read more ... ]

FTC Roundtables on Privacy and Technology Begin Today!: Via CDT.

Today the FTC begins hosting their series of day-long public roundtable discussions to explore the privacy challenges posed by new technology and business practices that collect and use consumer data. These discussions are being aired on a live webcast courtesy of the FTC and are a great opportunity for privacy advocates to make a public statement about the importance of improving privacy controls at the same rate we are advancing new innovations in technology. 

 
CEO Leslie Harris is a panelist at today's morning session discussing the benefits and risks of collecting, using, and retaining consumer data. These are all important issues that need to be brought to attention of federal agencies, Internet companies and Congress. 
 

Read Original Article:(Via CDT.)

More Problems With The FTC's New Disclosure Rules: Free Speech And Liability Problems: Via Techdirt.

I've already noted my general problems the FTC's new disclosure rules, but as others look into the details, the worse they seem and the more you realize the unintended consequences may be pretty bad. Jeff Jarvis makes some key points concerning how this could be seen as a restriction on free speech. And that's because the FTC seems to be viewing blog posts as if they are media, rather than straightforward communication. As we've pointed out in the past, for many, blogging is often no different than a conversation. It's not journalism. It's not reporting. It's having a discussion with people: [ Read more ... ]

Sears Spies on its Customers: Via Schneier on Security.

It's not just hackers who steal financial and medical information:

Between April 2007 and January 2008, visitors to the Kmart and Sears web sites were invited to join an "online community" for which they would be paid $10 with the idea they would be helping the company learn more about their customers. It turned out they learned a lot more than participants realized or that the feds thought was reasonable.

To join the "My SHC Community," users downloaded software that ended up grabbing some members' prescription information, emails, bank account data and purchases on other sites.

Reminds me of the 2005 Sony rootkit, which -- oddly enough -- is in the news again too: [ Read more ... ]

FTC Finalizes Terms of Sears’ Deceptive Practices Settlement: Via CDT - PolicyBeta.

The FTC recently announced approval of the terms of a settlement with Sears Holding Corp. (which owns Sears and K-Mart stores) over charges that the company failed to “adequately disclose” that it was collecting personal information using a spyware program secretly installed on consumers’ computers.

Between 2007 and 2008, 15 of every 100 visitors to sears.com or kmart.com were presented with a pop-up window that offered the opportunity to “talk directly to a retailer” and become part of “a place where your voice is heard and your opinion matters, and what you want and need counts!” No mention was made that this “opportunity” also installed detailed tracking software on the user’s computer. [ Read more ... ]

Events of Interest: FTC to Host Public Roundtables on Privacy (Dec. 7): Via Privacy Lives.

The Federal Trade Commission announced it willhold public roundtables to “explore the privacy challenges posed by the vast array of 21st century technology and business practices that collect and use consumer data.” The object of the roundtables “is to determine how best to protect consumer privacy while supporting beneficial uses of the information and technological innovation.” Here are the details of “Exploring Privacy: A Roundtable Series”: [...]

Read Original Article:(Via Privacy Lives.)

FTC forces Sears, Kmart out of the spyware business: Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has busted a strange set of spyware purveyors—US retailing giants Sears and Kmart.

The FTC this week approved its final consent order against the companies (which share the same owner) over an episode that can only be chalked up to incompetence of a truly epic scope. Sears Holding Management Company decided that it could really use a lot more marketing data to fuel its decision-making process, so it began offering visitors to sears.com and kmart.com a special invite—sign up for "My SHC Community," download a piece of "research" software, and earn 10 American dollars. That's right—10... American... dollars.

Read Original Article:(Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.)

Grade the Obama Administration's Work on Consumer Privacy!: Via EFF.org Updates.

The Privacy Coalition, a coalition of organizations committed to privacy issues, is inviting the public to give the Obama Administration a grade on its privacy work thus far: [ Read more ... ]

FTC Urges FCC To Consider Behavioral Targeting In Broadband Plan: Via MediaPost - news and directories for media, marketing and online advertising professionals.

The Federal Communications Commission should consider privacy issues raised by behavioral targeting when it crafts a national broadband plan. That's according to the Federal Trade Commission, which filed written comments about broadband with the FCC on Friday.

"A significant number of consumers appear to be particularly concerned about the tracking of their online activities for the purposes of, for example, delivering targeted advertisements. It appears consumers generally maintain these concerns even where the data collected is not personally identifiable," the FTC said in its 17-page comments. [ Read more ... ]

FTC drops the banhammer on prerecorded "robocalls": Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.

Are you the sort of person who enjoys a good "robocall" from a telemarketer? If so, two things: 1) you're a freak and you had better 2) get used to disappointment. Starting next week, the Federal Trade Commission will start enforcing a ban on prerecorded telemarketing pitches, further choking off an industry that has terrorized American dinner times for too long.

Sadly, though, there's a bit less here than meets the eye.

Read Original Article:(Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.)

Outspoken Privacy Advocate Joins FTC: Via Threat Level.

Christopher Soghoian, an outspoken privacy advocate who drew the ire of a congressman two years ago when he published information about a serious breach in airline security, has been hired by the Federal Trade Commission to work in the division of privacy and identity protection in its Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Soghoian made the surprising announcement on his blog Monday and told Threat Level the job offer came about after he ran into FTC staff at this year’s Computers Freedom and Privacy conference held in Washington, DC.

He said the job, which is a part-time, one-year contract, will likely involve a strict non-disclosure agreement that will prevent him from publicly disclosing vulnerabilities or other information he uncovers during the time he works for the FTC. But he said that’s the price “for entry inside the beltway.” [ Read more ... ]

FTC Settles with Rail Companies, Responds to CDT Petition: Via Center for Democracy and Technology.

Two companies that fired employees and rejected job applicants without informing them that those decisions were based on background checks have settled charges and agreed to pay $77,000 in civil penalties to the FTC. The FTC brought the charges in response to a petition filed by CDT and a group of advocates noting numerous violations of federal rules that require employers to provide proper notice and obtain consent before subjecting employees to criminal background checks. The FTC found the companies to be in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which helps to protect consumers by requiring employers to inform employees and job applicants about the use of background checks in making employment decisions. [ Read more ... ]

Concerns Surface About Some PASS ID Amendments: Via CDT - PolicyBeta.

Last Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee agreed on several amendments to the PASS ID bill [S. 1261] and sent the legislation on to the Senate.

Let’s take a look at some of the changes:

• Exceptions to the anti-skimming provision:

A key privacy protection we support in PASS ID restricts the collection and use of information scanned from the machine-readable zone on your driver’s license or ID card. However, in response to the concerns of retailers and other third party users of driver’s license information, the committee introduced an amendment that directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to issue regulations establishing exceptions to this anti-skimming provision. [ Read more ... ]