Posts Tagged ‘Privacy’

Googles Returns To Print Advertising To Reassure Users Abouts Its Privacy Policies

Posted on January 19th, 2012 • Filed under Look • No Comments

Search giant buys newspaper and magazine space to educate users about its new privacy features and reassure them that it is a responsible and reputable company.

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Judge shreds, dismisses iPhone privacy class-action

Posted on September 25th, 2011 • Filed under Learn • No Comments

From time to time, we will be running posts from Eric Goldman’s Technology & Marketing Law Blog. Sometimes they will look similar to other articles appearing on Ars; other posts will be more “bloggy” in nature. This is one of the latter.

In re iPhone Application Litigation, 11-MD-02250-LHK (N.D. Cal.; Sept. 20, 2011)

iPhone users sued Apple and various advertising networks, alleging that defendants violated their privacy rights “by… allowing third party applications that run on [iOS devices] to collect and make use of… personal information without user consent or knowledge.” The court dismisses the claims, but grants leave to amend. 

Judge Koh’s order has the feel of a professor grading an exam, and it covers a lot of ground, including many cases we’ve blogged about. (It’s well worth the read.)

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Privacy lawsuit targets ‘Net giants over “zombie” cookies

Posted on July 28th, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • No Comments

A wide swath of the net’s top websites, including MTV, ESPN, MySpace, Hulu, ABC, NBC and Scribd, were sued in federal court Friday on the grounds they violated federal computer intrusion law by secretly using storage in Adobe’s Flash player to recreate cookies deleted by users.

At issue is technology from Quantcast, also targeted in the lawsuit. Quantcast created Flash cookies that track users across the web, and used them to recreate traditional browser cookies that users deleted from their computers. These “zombie” cookies came to light last year, after researchers at UC Berkeley documented deleted browser cookies returning to life. Quantcast quickly fixed the issue, calling it an unintended consequence of trying to measure web traffic accurately.

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ESRB’s privacy badge all about best practices, not anonymity

Posted on July 13th, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • No Comments

Astute gamers noticed that Blizzard’s controversial Real ID system was certified by the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s Privacy Online Program. In fact, some gamers thought they could fight the now-defunct program by complaining to the ESRB. We reached out to the rating board to ask a simple question: where does the ESRB fit in when it comes to anonymity?

“The role of the ESRB Privacy Online program is to make sure that member websites—those that display our seal on their pages—are compliant with an increasingly complex series of privacy protection laws and are offering a secure space for users to interact and do business online,” the ESRB’s Assistant Director of Communications, Eliot Mizrachi, told Ars.

“This includes addressing issues like what types of personal information can be collected, how companies must handle that information with respect to individuals’ right to privacy, and ensuring that people are informed of exactly where and how their information will be used. These issues are of particular importance to programs and websites that are geared towards children.”

In other words, the system is in place to make sure the data provided to these companies by customers—including things like your real name, contact information, or date of birth—is treated safely and with respect. “But online privacy protection doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing as anonymity. It’s about making sure that websites collecting personal information from users are doing so not only in accordance with federal regulations but also with best practices for protecting individuals’ personal information online,” Mizrachi explained.

The ESRB worked with Blizzard to make sure gamers had to opt into the program to use their real name on the forum, and had to be over the age of 18 to register. The group also ensured that the program was fully disclosed to gamers; it made sure the privacy policy was changed and had accurate information about the program and how it would change how gamers interacted with the forum. Keep that in mind when using your real information: the ESRB privacy badge deals with best practices in dealing with your data internally… but doesn’t guarantee anonymity.

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