Study: Shoppers will pay for privacy
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Carnegie Mellon research counters prior studies showing online shoppers are willing to sacrifice privacy for lower prices.
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As the Federal Trade Commission wraps up deliberations on whether to approve the $3.1 billion deal, consumer advocates argue privacy issues must be front and center.
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Companies brace for privacy debate as potentially intrusive applications arrive faster than expected.
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The first raw data on Internet usage yesterday indicate shoppers rode heavy on the net. But there's one important question outstanding: Were those shoppers also purchasers?
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Opinion: Whether they realize it or not, many people leave sensitive information out in plain view on Web sites. But sooner or later, a Google search will dig it up.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The nation's largest drugstore chains say they are working to better protect patient privacy after an investigative TV report turned up sensitive information about hundreds of customers in trash bins in cities around the country.
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Researchers are developing an RFID-enabled watch system to help the memory-challenged find their stuff. But making sure it doesn't track too much is a big privacy concern. By Michael Bradbury.
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(InfoWorld) - The operator of two computer privacy services has agreed to pay up to $1 million in refunds to customers to settle charges of using deceptive marketing techniques and selling the customer's personal information. Consumer Digital Services, which sold the Privasafe and SurfSafe software and services, has agreed to pay $300,000 in fines and legal fees and offer refunds to Washington state consumers who were billed for their products, according to Katherine Tassi, assistant attorney general for Washington. Terms of the settlement were outlined in a consent decree filed Thursday in King County Superior Court in Seattle. Consumer Digital Services is controlled by Gary Salmirs, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, who is also named in the settlement. The state alleges that the company violated state consumer protection laws, but neither Salmirs nor the company admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement, Tassi said. According to her, the company lured customers with offers of free gift cards, flat-screen monitors, andÂ software, promoted through pop-up ads and e-mail. Customers handed over personal informationÂ such asÂ addresses, telephone numbers, and dates of birth, thinking that they were getting a free product. "What they actually were doing was signing up for a paid service," Tassi said. Thousands of consumers received unexpected $14.95-per-month charges for the company's software and services, and almost nobody got a free gift card or flat-screen monitor. "Our investigation showed that only one of the over 13,000 Washington consumers ever actually got this free item," Tassi said. Consumers didn't have to hand over credit card information in order to be billed because the charges were tacked on to regular monthly telephone bills, she added. Last year, the Florida attorney general investigated a company called Email Discount Network for engaging in similar billing practices, Tassi said. Consumer Digital Services took its Web sites offline sometime during the past month, Tassi said. But according to cached copies of these sites, the company said that its products would remove spyware, protect consumers against "unscrupulous marketers," make Internet surfers anonymous, and even boost connection speeds. In fact, the "exact opposite" occurred, Tassi said. "They actually were compiling a huge database of consumer information that could be used for marketing purposes," she said. This data was eventually sold to marketing companies, she added. Washington state residents who were billed for Privasafe or SurfSafe products since Jan. 1, 2004, can get their money refunded and will be contacted by Consumer Digital Services. The company could not be reached immediately for comment.
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Eager to get into the identity-theft business? Don't bother breaking into a government employee's house or staking out an unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot. A recent study shows that a simple shopping jaunt on eBay or in a local used-tech store will pay off in personal info over half the time.
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Researchers learn that social network users are willing to sell their personal data for site features.
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Let 'em know they're being watched US consumer protection body the Federal Trade Commission has backed a tightening of rules on internet advertising and the use of personal information. It has proposed stronger industry regulation of the tracking of users' habits.â¦
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In a privacy first among major search engines, the service will let its users decide how long their queries will be retained.
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The real privacy issues are being raised by Google, Yahoo, AOL and others, which are tracking users in order to show them advertising targeted to their interests.
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Reports that shoppers are leaving it late in the hope of finding festive bargains may be borne out by new High Street data.
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By MICHAEL LIEDTKE  SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc.'s privacy practices are the worst among the Internet's top destinations, according to a watchdog group seeking to intensify the recent focus on how the online search leader handles personal information about its users.
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In an effort to curb fraud, many stores require photo ID or other personal information. By Wendy Tanaka. PHILADELPHIA -- With the holiday presents mostly opened, a trip to the merchandise return counter can&#39;t be far behind.
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Internet and mail-order sellers offer a misleading benefit.