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Of Apps and Antitrust: FTC Monitoring Kicks Into High Gear February 13, 2013 
Periodically we are reminded that the Federal Trade Commission plays a major role in regulating the Internet. For instance, the FTC is in charge of protecting privacy on the Internet in the U.S. and continually starts new privacy initiatives as the use of the Internet evolves.
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Facebook May Be Mapping Out a Location-Tracking App February 06, 2013 
Facebook, which already has a long history of skirmishes with privacy advocates, may be heading toward another fight following reports that the company is working on a mobile location-tracking app. The app would reportedly run in the background even when other apps are running on a smartphone.
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Twitter Hack Ratchets Up Security Jitters February 05, 2013 
Twitter has joined a rapidly growing list of U.S. companies to report a major cybersecurity incident. The social network admitted late last week that it was able to shut down a live attack, but not before hackers may have been able to access personal information on 250,000 users.
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Dotcom Fights the Law With New Mega Site January 21, 2013 
Kim Dotcom on Sunday opened the doors to the new file-sharing website Mega. The site is making a splash in the file-sharing world with its promise of exceptional privacy and security. That is not the only reason Mega's debut is notable, though: Dotcom is the founder of Megaupload, which was shut down by U.S. authorities following indictments for piracy against Dotcom and others.
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Facebook's Graph Search Turns Up Privacy Issues January 19, 2013 
Facebook's introduction of Graph Search has been greeted with -- wait for it -- complaints about privacy. Graph Search is a feature Facebook introduced to allow users to enter parameter-based searches to find friends -- and friends of friends -- who share certain interests. A search for "friends who ski" or even more specifically "friends who ski in Arizona" will narrow the results within that field.
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DeleteMe Mobile App Helps Keep Data Brokers at Bay January 15, 2013 
Data brokers are watching your every move online. They track the sites
you visit, articles you read, purchases you make, and even the names of
your children.To cut through the red tape of monitoring and removing
stored information, online privacy company Abine is offering a mobile version of its DeleteMe monitoring service, which is available for devices running iOS.
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Those Spicy Snapchat Vids Don't Self-Destruct December 28, 2012 
So you thought those photos and videos you sent using Snapchat or Poke -- you know, the embarrassing ones -- were supposed to self-destruct after being viewed by the intended recipient? Not so fast. It turns out that there's a way to save them that doesn't require a lot of skill or expense.
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Bill Loosens Rules for Sharing What You've Watched on Netflix December 28, 2012 
Legislation that would allow services such as Netflix to facilitate "frictionless sharing" of a user's viewing history via Facebook or other online services is awaiting President Obama's signature. The U.S. Senate passed the update to the 1988 law late last week; the same bill cleared the House days earlier.
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Mad-as-Hell Instagram User Takes Fight to Court December 27, 2012 
An Instagram user has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the company, alleging breach of contract and other violations. The suit claims that Instagram's "unilateral" changes to its terms of use transfer "valuable property rights to Instagram while simultaneously relieving Instagram from any liability for commercially exploiting customers' photographs and artistic content."
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China Doubles Down on Real-Name Web Registration December 26, 2012 
The Great Firewall of China might start requiring ID for admittance. On Monday, China's National People's Congress began discussing a draft decision that would force Internet users to use their real names in order to register for services. The draft decision is, depending on your perspective, a way to protect personal information online, or yet another move by China to restrict freedom of information.
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Google Feeds More Personal Data Into Search Trials December 21, 2012 
Google is a company that's always in Beta, goes the joke, but there's some truth to it. The company began its latest search field trial a few months ago, and it just added a few new capabilities to make it more interesting: the ability to search for personal information stored in Gmail and Google Drive, such as reservations, recent purchases and package tracking.
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Instagram: Better to Tell Your Story Than Let Angry Users Tell It December 20, 2012 
The social media era doesn't mean that more people can communicate than in the past. It means that more customers can communicate faster than ever before -- and customers always communicate more and faster when they're angry. You'd think that this message would have been internalized by the nice people over at Facebook, which owns Instagram. Sadly, that's not the case.
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Feds Tighten Up Child Privacy Protection Rules December 19, 2012 
The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday announced final amendments to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule, which governs the online collection of personal information under the age of 13. This is the culmination of a review that began in 2010 to ensure that the COPPA Rule keeps pace with changes in technology and the way kids use and access the Internet.
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User Revolt Prompts Instagram to Retouch Photo Policies December 19, 2012 
Instagram appears to be backtracking on plans to update its privacy policy and terms of service following an uproar from users. The proposed updates were scheduled to come into effect Jan. 16. Provisions that stirred users' wrath apparently let the company use posted images in advertisements without asking for permission or paying the users, and let Instagram share user information with affiliated businesses.
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FTC Asks Data Brokers What They're Doing With Your Info December 18, 2012
The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday announced that it has demanded nine data brokerage companies explain how they collect and use consumer data. The nine are Acxiom, Corelogic, Datalogix, eBureau, ID Analytics, Intelius, Peekyou, Rapleaf and Recorded Future. These sites offer information on just about anyone, in most cases for a fee.
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Next Star of Instagram Ad Could Be You, Like It or Not December 18, 2012
Instagram is rolling out an update of its terms of service that gives it more control over users' photos. The changes have unleashed a storm of criticism on various social networks. The new policies are privacy measures that will help Instagram integrate more easily with its parent company, Facebook. The terms will also allow the site to more effectively crack down on site violations such as spam.
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Stallman and Ubuntu: Sticks and Stones and a Blogosphere Brawl December 17, 2012 
It was only a few weeks ago that the Linux blogosphere's Punchy Penguin Saloon suffered its latest round of damage thanks to the recent skirmish over the GPL, but now the popular establishment of questionable repute is actually shut down for a week for repairs. The cause this time? Yet another blogosphere brawl, needless to say, focusing this time on Ubuntu and its newly installed "surveillance code."
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Facebook Gives a Little, Gets a Little With New Privacy Settings December 12, 2012 
Facebook has introduced a number of changes to its privacy controls, positioning them as easier for users to manage. For example, a new icon on the toolbar will allow users to ask three questions: Who can see my stuff? Who can contact me? and How do I stop someone from bothering me? For further information, users go to the Privacy Settings page.
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Give Us Comments, Not Votes, Says Facebook December 05, 2012 
Facebook has elaborated on the changes it wants to make to its Data Use Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. This new explanation is in response to the user feedback it has received thus far on a proposal it made late last month.
The crux of its proposed change is to scrap its user voting system and replace it with high-quality feedback instead.
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Facebook May Win Sponsored Stories Settlement - but the Ads Don't Work December 05, 2012 
A U.S. district judge has given preliminary approval to Facebook's attempt to settle a class action lawsuit alleging the company violated members' privacy rights by using their images in Facebook's Sponsored Stories ad format. The settlement would give $10 each to those who objected to their images appearing in the ads.
Privacy advocates were less than enthused.
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