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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: online privacy

online privacy stories: 61 news summaries

1 - 20 of 61 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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 Facebook Gives
 Death a Makeover

Gravestones are so 1.0, site spins; try memorializing your page

Oct 29, 09 2:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Facebook has responded to yet another qualm arising from its revamp last week. This one was actually sort of serious: Users were inundated with suggestions that they “reconnect” with friends who—though their Facebook pages were still active—had in reality shuffled off this mortal coil. “Would that... More »

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social networking • Internet • Web 2.0 • Facebook • online privacy • death • memorial • deceased

 Facebook 
 Refuseniks 
 Still Sorta 
 Use It 

They object in principle but end up using it by proxy

Oct 15, 09 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Washington Post today profiles an increasingly rare breed: people in their 20s and 30s who don't use Facebook or other such sites. And though the “refuseniks” interviewed have different rationales—privacy, “morals and beliefs,” being “old-school in the personal touch way,” many share something... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Internet • MySpace • Facebook • online privacy • communication • Twitter • Luddite

Facebook Beefs Up Privacy Protection

Canadian concerns prompt changes in
how apps get info

Aug 27, 09 4:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - In response to criticism by the Canadian government, Facebook is enacting far-reaching changes in how third-party applications gain access to personal data, TechCrunch reports. Currently, Facebook applications ask users once, upon installation, for approval to access personal information. Under the new rules, the apps will have to ask repeatedly as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Canada • privacy • Facebook • online privacy • personal privacy • Internet privacy • social media

(Newser) - Privacy groups are up in arms over a White House proposal to allow tracking technology to be used on government websites, the Washington Post reports. Supporters argue that social networking sites have used cookies and other tracking tools to spectacular effect, but the ACLU says the proposal is a... More »

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Google • online privacy • government spying • invasion of privacy • web cookies • Internet privacy • Obama administration • Jay-ZTV

ANALYSIS

Facebook Crosses Line
on Privacy ... Again

Recognize that face in an ad? It could be your friend—or you.

Jul 28, 09 12:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Imagine Peter Smith’s surprise when an ad for “hot singles” on Facebook featured a picture of … his wife. The site blames that flap on a third-party company violating policy, but the incident underscores Facebook’s notoriously unclear privacy settings, writes Bob Sullivan for MSNBC: “A hard-to-spot... More »

MORE ABOUT:
privacy • Facebook • online privacy • privacy settings • advertisements • advertisers • invasion of privacy • Internet privacy

(Newser) - Facebook is starting a pilot program to test a more user-friendly version of its sprawling privacy controls, CNET reports. The 40 different settings now occupy six separate pages, and are so complicated that many users ignore them completely. “These can add up and pile up and not be as... More »

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social networking • online advertising • Facebook • online privacy • privacy settings • website • Internet security • World Wide Web

 
 Social Sites Don't 
 Delete Photos 
 Promptly: Study 

7 sites left photos up after purportedly removing them

May 21, 09 11:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Uploaded photos remain on social-networking sites long after users think they’ve deleted them, a study finds. Researchers put photos on 16 popular sites and then deleted them. A month later, the BBC reports, the photos were still accessible using their direct URLs on seven of those sites, including Facebook—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Facebook • online privacy • Flickr • photos

(Newser) - The French legislature has put a stop—for now—to an anti-piracy law that would deny Internet access to repeat offenders, AFP reports. The law, a pet of President Nicolas Sarkozy, would deal the ultimate blow to illegal downloaders after three strikes, and replace the current regime of fines and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • Nicolas Sarkozy • France • online privacy • piracy • French Parliament • Internet service providers • illegal downloading • 3 strikes

(Newser) - The recent scrap over Facebook’s privacy policy seems to be at odds with the site’s friendly, familial face, Vanessa Grigoriadis writes in New York. But the company’s aborted move to claim ownership of user content in perpetuity reveals a vague something about its ambitions. “Facebook’... More »

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social networking • Internet • Facebook • Mark Zuckerberg • online privacy • terms of service • sharing

 British Village Chases Out Google Street View 'Spy'

Mob of wealthy villagers feared Google could help burglars case their houses

Apr 3, 09 3:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Google's attempt to add the scenic English village of Broughton to Street View was foiled by angry villagers, the Guardian reports. Residents, fearing that internet closeups of their homes would be an invitation to burglars, formed a human barrier to block the Google camera car after being alerted by a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • privacy • online privacy • Street View • Google Maps • Britain

 Facebook Changes 
 Irk Users—Again 

Twitter-esque feed makes site jumbled, members complain

Mar 18, 09 12:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - The latest changes to Facebook are barely a week old and are already prompting the ire of users, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Updates from friends now appear on the homepage in a real-time, Twitter-esque feed, which users complain crowds out more important messages, like friend requests. A user group,... More »

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social networking • Internet • Facebook • online privacy • blog • Twitter • Internet privacy

 Facebook:
Uh, Never Mind That Last Update

Privacy protests result in a swift U-turn on terms of service

Feb 18, 09 6:04 AM CST
(Newser) - Facebook has done an about-face and withdrawn its new terms of service following a public outcry, CNET reports. The fine-print update appeared to give the site perpetual rights to users' content, prompting threats of a federal complaint from a major privacy watchdog and mass desertion from tens of thousands of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • Facebook • Mark Zuckerberg • online privacy • terms of service • Internet privacy

New Facebook Fine Print Irks Users in Privacy Tug-of-War

Clause giving site permanent license to content slammed

Feb 17, 09 4:46 AM CST
(Newser) - An outcry over a terms of service change has forced Facebook's founder to reassure users that they still own and control their own information, the New York Times reports. The update—which remains unchanged—removed a provision that said users could delete their content at any time, and added a... More »

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social networking • Internet • Facebook • Mark Zuckerberg • online privacy • terms of service • Internet privacy

Photo-Humiliation Site
Sparks Facebook Fury

'Paparazzi for the masses' site YoBusted accused of extortion, copyright infringement

Feb 12, 09 3:15 AM CST
(Newser) - Facebook isn't laughing about a site trying to cash in on people's funny photos, reports BusinessWeek. YoBusted features embarrassing photos sent in by users, often lifted from Facebook. Anybody who wants his or her photo removed has to sign up for a $20-a-month membership. Any "friend" who sends in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Facebook • online privacy • copyright • extortion • lawsuit • photograph • website

ANALYSIS

Yahoo Will Keep Searchers' Info Only 3 Months

Search firm now holds information for less time than Google, Microsoft

Dec 17, 08 3:38 PM CST
(Newser) - Yahoo will shorten the amount of time it will keep users’ personal data, Stacey Higginbotham reports for GigaOm. The firm will scrub page views, ad views, and search data after 90 days, though it will keep data flagged as suspicious for twice as long. Google and Microsoft recently proposed changes... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Yahoo • Google • Microsoft • privacy • online privacy • search • Internet privacy

ANALYSIS

Watchdog Wants More Privacy From Google

Incognito mode should be default setting on Chrome browser

Nov 4, 08 2:31 PM CST
(Newser) - Nonprofit Consumer Watchdog is urging Google to make the “incognito” setting—which can limit the search giant’s ability to pin down users’ locations and keep tabs on their search and other data—the default mode on its new Chrome browser, Chris Thompson writes in the Big Money. It... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • online privacy • privacy settings • Internet privacy • Google Chrome • privacy policy

UK: Web Phone Service Gives Criminals Edge

Authorities want
to expand their online snooping powers

Oct 16, 08 3:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Criminals and terrorists are using VoIP services like Skype to evade law enforcement, sources tell the Times of London, and officials are lobbying for increased access. Police often rely on phone records as evidence, but online calls often leave no trace. “Communications data forms an important element of prosecution... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • VoIP • online privacy • Jacqui Smith • Britain • Internet phone • Internet privacy

 Hey Dummy, 
 Think Before 
 You Post 
 That Pic 

From work dodging firemen to jail happy juniors, some things should not be shared

Sep 18, 08 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - A picture may have been worth a thousand words before Facebook and YouTube came along, but in the Internet age the price can be much steeper for going public with one’s—er—privates. PC World presents 12 online photos that cost their owners dearly:
  • “A defense attorney’
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Facebook • online privacy • personal privacy • stupidity • photo sharing

ANALYSIS

Explorer 8's Privacy Feature Boon to Users

... though advertisers surely won't like Microsoft's addition

Aug 27, 08 4:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - The privacy features available with the next version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer will appeal to users “paranoid or perverted,” Peter Bright writes on Ars Technica, but will “go some way to curtailing the power of large Internet companies to monitor how people are using the web.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • online privacy • Internet Explorer • privacy settings • cookies • Internet privacy

Google Must Turn Over YouTube Records: Judge

Data dump includes users' names and IP addresses

Jul 4, 08 3:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - A judge has ordered Google to give Viacom records of all videos ever watched on YouTube, including users’ names and IP addresses, Wired reports. Viacom is seeking the data to bolster its $1 billion lawsuit against Google for allowing copyrighted Viacom clips on YouTube. The media giant believes the data... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • Viacom • YouTube • online privacy • copyright • lawsuit • copyright infringement

1 - 20 of 61 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>


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