Privacy plan would let users know who s watching: related news

Privacy plan would let users know who's watching

A new Internet users’ privacy scheme has been recommended by the European Parliament which approved amendments to the EU’s e-privacy directive. The report is expected to be adopted by the full Parliament in September, the committee said. Under the plan, Internet service providers will be required to tell customers about hacker attacks that could lead to privacy invasions such as identity theft or email snooping. The service providers will also have to list network security breaches in their annual reports. Also, when governments access individuals’ private data, the service providers must inform national regulatory authorities, who can refer cases to court when governments exceed their authority, a key factor which was pushed by the parliament’s Socialist Group.

Opinion: Why the iPhone is Apple's Trojan horse

End Users, End Users, End Users, End Users, End Users, End Users, End Users, End Users, End Users, End Users,...

Mozilla explores collaborative, 3D browsers...

The Mozilla Foundation is investigating web browsers that would allow users to share websites and compare information in real time, says a new report. Currently codenamed Aurora, the concept would revolve around the notion of data and pages organized into cells, or clusters of relevant information. The approach would not only let individuals jump to similar pages covering a given subject but would also allow fellow users to compare information from their own cells in real time; an integrated messaging system would let users speak to each other without interrupting the primary view.

Proposed DOL regs would require enhanced disclosure to 401(k) plan participants

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has issued proposed regulations that would require employers and plan administrators, in satisfaction of their fiduciary duties under ERISA, to provide (on generally an annual basis) participants and beneficiaries in participant-directed plans with plan and investment-related information, including details of fees and expenses assessed to their individual accounts. The proposed rules, which, when finalized, would apply to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, would specifically require the disclosure of investment-related fee and expense information (e.g., sales loads, deferred sales charges, redemption fees, service charges, exchange fees, account fees, purchase fees, and the expense ratio for the total operating expenses of the investment) to be made in a

Don't You Feel Safer Now That Google Added A Link To Its Privacy Policy?

One of the more idiotic accusations thrown at Google of late was this idea that it was somehow a problem that it didn't link directly to its privacy policy from its home page. It had a privacy policy. That privacy policy was easy to find. Almost no one actually reads its privacy policy -- but a bunch of privacy groups who surely had more important things to spend their time on got all upset that Google refused to link from its front page. It appears that Google has now given in and agreed to link to the privacy policy, oddly removing the word "Google" from its copyright notice and replacing it with a link to the privacy policy.

Web users demand privacy, then give it up

Via TechDirt, a less-than-shocking illustration about Web users and our approach to privacy: We say we want it, but do little to obtain it. A survey of privacy attitudes in the U.K. found that 84 percent of Internet users claimed they would not divulge details of their income online. Later in the survey, the same group was asked to divulge their income data. Eighty-seven percent of them did so. Hello, cognitive dissonance!

Privacy Policies Only as Good as the People Enforcing Them

Techdirt is reporting that while we all know privacy policies may not matter much in the grand scheme of things, a recent study shows that it may be even worse than originally surmised. It seems that the real issue is with who has access to personal data and what they are able to do with it. "of course, it's not just the people reading the policies that don't seem to understand them -- it's those in charge of living up to and enforcing the policies. A new study surveyed a bunch of executives, including both marketing execs and those in charge of enforcing the privacy policy, and quickly discovered that marketers have a very different concept of 'privacy' than privacy officers. Not surprisingly, they don't see anything wrong with sharing all sorts of data that seems to horrify privacy officers.

Google Adds Privacy Policy Link

After a month of pressure from privacy groups, search engine Google has finally agreed to add a link on its homepage to the company's privacy policy. Google had resisted the addition of a privacy link, saying it did not want to clutter its homepage. "We're making a homepage change by adding a link to our privacy overview and policies," Marissa Mayer, vice president of Search Products & User Experience, said in a July 3 Google Blog post. "Google values our users' privacy first and foremost. Trust is the basis of everything we do, so we want you to be familiar and comfortable with the integrity and care we give your personal data."

Google's Latest Silly Privacy Problem

Well now that Google's dealt with one ridiculous privacy complaint, it appears it has another to deal with. As Google is preparing to launch its "Street View" offerings in Europe (which let people see photos of the streets they search for on Google Maps), some privacy groups are complaining how its a violation of people's privacy. Apparently the fact that they were photographed out in public hasn't occurred to the privacy group. Even more to the point, as Google has pointed out in response, despite the fact that anyone caught in these photographs was in public, it's recently rolled out a system to automatically blur faces of people who end up in the Street View photos. Overall, the whole complaint seems to be much ado about nothing from privacy advocates who have much more important things to focus on.

Fedora considering a new privacy policy

For a while now, we've been butting up against the Red Hat Privacy Policy (which we've been using to cover Fedora). To try to address some of these concerns, I sat down and made a new privacy policy for Fedora to use that is independent of Red Hat's Privacy Policy. I made a draft, then sent it over to Red Hat Legal for review. They made some minor changes and sent it back to me. Here it is for you folks to look over: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/TomCallaway/PrivacyPolicyD... Keep in mind that while this is more open than the Red Hat Privacy Policy, I think it is more in keeping with the spirit of Fedora. (Also, it is directly derived from Red Hat's privacy policy, so its not as if I completely rewrote it from scratch). Barring any major failures, I plan to present this for approval at next week's board meeting.

Responding to Critics, Google Adds Privacy Link to Home Page

On June 3rd a group of privacy advocates, including California-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the World Privacy Forum, Consumer Action, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumer Federation of California, and ACLU of Northern California - among others - sent a detailed letter to Google CEO CEO Eric Schmidt, charging that the lack of a privacy link on Google's home page was not just "alarming," but violated the California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003.

DesignerDigitals.com Certified for TRUSTe Web Privacy

BEL AIR, Md. - (Business Wire) Leading Internet digital scrapbooking supplies e-tailer DesignerDigitals.com today announced that it is certified to display the TRUSTe Web Privacy Seal. The Web Privacy Seal demonstrates DesignerDigitals commitment to protecting the privacy and data of its on-line community. TRUSTe is the leader in privacy certification. They award their privacy seal only to companies that complete the thorough certification process and agree to comply with ongoing oversight.

Finding Fault With Google's Privacy Policy

orenh writes "Viacom has recently obtained a court order that requires Google to hand over a complete list of every video watched by YouTube users. These logs will include the login names and IP addresses of the users. Google are now asking Viacom if they can anonymize the logs before turning them over; Viacom hasn't responded yet. But this privacy nightmare could have been greatly reduced if Google had anonymized the data in advance. Google's privacy policy states that they keep personally identifiable information for 18 months. There is no real reason to do so; Google can achieve everything they need even if they anonymize their search logs after just one month, and it's time users told them to do so."

Holzer Holzer & Fistel, LLC Announces Investigation Into UBS AG 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan

ATLANTA, July 29, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Holzer Holzer & Fistel, LLC is investigating possible violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 related to UBS AG's (``UBS'' or the ``Company'') (NYSE:UBS - News) 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan (the ``Plan''). The investigation centers on whether UBS and the Plan administrators breached their fiduciary duties to Plan participants by, among other things, making imprudent investments in Company stock and otherwise failing to prudently and loyally manage the Plan's investments.

Bill would require more privacy officers

A bill under consideration in the House of Representatives, H.R. 5170, would require a privacy officer in each of the Homeland Security Department's components. The legislation seeks to strengthen DHS's privacy protection efforts.

Judge's order trumps even comprehensive privacy policy / Users leave data tracks everywhere they go online

Credit card companies know what you've bought. Phone companies know whom you've called. Electronic toll services know where you've gone.

How Many Linux Users Are There? Will We Ever Know?

IconThe traditional market share numbers would say that Linux is currently at less than 1%, but some more recent numbers suggest that it might, in fact, be almost even with the Mac. This all brings the question of how many Linux users are there really? Unfortunately, we may never know. Certainly, there is no way of knowing currently, but it should be possible to at least get a rough estimate.

Oracle Database Bugs Let Remote Users Access and Modify Data and Cause Denial of Service Conditions and Let Local Users Gain Elevated Privileges

CVE Reference: CVE-2008-2587 , CVE-2008-2590 , CVE-2008-2591 , CVE-2008-2592 , CVE-2008-2600 , CVE-2008-2602 , CVE-2008-2603 , CVE-2008-2604 , CVE-2008-2605 , CVE-2008-2607 , CVE-2008-2608 , CVE-2008-2611 , CVE-2008-2613

NebuAd Introduces Next-Generation Online Consumer Privacy Protections, Raising the Bar on Internet Privacy Protection Standards

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (Business Wire) -- NebuAd, an online media company that provides state-of-the-art online privacy protection for consumers, today announced it is introducing new industry-leading online privacy protections, offering alternatives for robust, direct consumer notification and unprecedented innovations in opt-out technology. This move further empowers Internet service provider (ISP) subscribers to control their web experience. In addition, it reinforces NebuAd's commitment to delivering world-class innovation in Internet advertising by setting unparalleled standards in online consumer privacy protection.

NebuAd Introduces Next-Generation Online Consumer Privacy Protections, Raising the Bar on Internet Privacy Protection Standards

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 2008--NebuAd, an online media company that provides state-of-the-art online privacy protection for consumers, today announced it is introducing new industry-leading online privacy protections, offering alternatives for robust, direct consumer notification and unprecedented innovations in opt-out technology. This move further empowers Internet service provider (ISP) subscribers to control their web experience. In addition, it reinforces NebuAd’s commitment to delivering world-class innovation in Internet advertising by setting unparalleled standards in online consumer privacy protection.

Pickens Plans On Wind Power

Hugh Pickens writes "T. Boone Pickens (no relation) has launched an energy plan and social-networking campaign that calls for replacing Middle Eastern oil with Midwestern wind. The Pickens Plan would exploit the country's "wind corridor" from the Canadian border to West Texas to produce 20 percent of the country's electricity and provide an economic revival for rural America. Transmission lines would be built to transport the power where the demand is and natural gas, now used to fuel power plants, would instead be used as a transportation fuel, which burns cleaner than gasoline and is domestic. Pickens proposed that the private sector finance the investment, which would result in a one-third reduction, equal to $230 billion, in the U.S.' yearly payments to foreign countries.

YouTube User Decries Spill of Video Logs

The general public has received word that US District Court Judge Louis Stanton would have YouTube deliver its video usage logs to Viacom as part of litigation. Should all YouTube users rightly be up in arms? Yes. However, before we get to the reaction, in this article I write as a software developer with experience litigating in the realm. Before I opine about the decision, I want to review some common knowledge and atopline view of the situation.YouTube is a large repository of videos, with a large user base -- a crowd of people go there all the time. The users do more than watch videos -- they also post them, where they become visible to that same large community of users. In most cases, the posting and watching of videos is innocent. People from all ages and strata of society are welcome to be users, and videos have appeared on every

Privacy protections disappear with a judge's order

Credit card companies know what you've bought. Phone companies know whom you've called. Electronic toll services know where you've gone. Internet search companies know what you've sought.

Privacy Protections Disappear With Judge's Order

NEW YORK -- Credit card companies know what you've bought. Phone companies know whom you've called. Electronic toll services know where you've gone. Internet search companies know what you've sought.

Privacy protections disappear with a judge's order

NEW YORK - Credit card companies know what you've bought. Phone companies know whom you've called. Electronic toll services know where you've gone. Internet search companies know what you've sought.

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