Imagine going for an oil change and finding out that the auto shop charged you a higher price just because you had a luxury car, so they figured you could afford it. You’d probably get ticked off and find another mechanic, right? …
privacy
Could That Facebook ‘Like’ Hurt Your Credit Score?
A plan to study data mining of social-networking sites bankrolled by Germany‘s largest credit-reporting agency provoked outrage after internal documents about the project were leaked to German media outlets.
Your Personal Info Might Be on Facebook — Even if You Aren’t
Think staying off social-networking sites will help you preserve your privacy? Think again. In a new study, German researchers found that they could find substantial amounts of personal information about people who weren’t …
Grading Google’s CEO Larry Page: A First Year Report Card
In the year since Larry Page took over as Google CEO, the company co-founder has streamlined management ranks, jettisoned non-essential product lines, and worked to increase Google’s competitive metabolism with “the passion and …
Teacher’s Aide Fired for Refusing to Let Employer Shoulder Surf Her Facebook Page
The Facebook-related firings have begun: A teacher’s aide in Michigan was let go from her job after a school administrator demanded that she turn over her Facebook password and she refused. The aide, Kimberly Hester, is preparing …
FTC Thinks Your Privacy’s Under Attack, Too
This week, the Federal Trade Commission weighed in on the topic of consumer privacy with a new report that essentially says individuals need more protection than the rules and guidelines in place today provide. “The traditional distinction between personally identifiable information and ‘anonymous’ data has blurred,” the agency says in …
Lawmakers Try to Ban Facebook ‘Shoulder Surfing’ by Employers
Even in a marketplace where people routinely trade access to their personal data for small freebies like online games and coupons, some employers have provoked outrage by demanding to see job applicants’ private Facebook pages. Now, lawmakers are wading into the fray with legislation that would prohibit the practice of “shoulder surfing” …
Should Apple Pay For The Bad Deeds Of Its App Makers?
A sprawling lawsuit filed in Texas this week targets Path, Instagram, Facebook and others for instructing their apps to suck up user address book data without permission. But the most interesting part of the case may be
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We’re Total Cheapskates When It Comes To Our Privacy
The value of consumers’ personal data online has been a hot topic lately. The astronomical $100 billion some analysts have suggested Facebook could be worth when it goes public stems from the fact that the social media powerhouse …
Can Interviewers Insist on ‘Shoulder Surfing’ Your Facebook Page?
Privacy advocates say that, for now, it is legal for a prospective employer, during a job interview, to insist that you log into your Facebook page and then click through your “friends only” posts, photos and messages.
New Google Privacy Policy May Violate European Law
Google is facing some new flack for its new privacy policy — set to be rolled out on March 1 — after the French data protection authority said the new policy appears to violate EU law. In a letter sent to Google Monday, …
Opinion: Do-Not-Track Plan a Good First Step for Digital Privacy
The recent agreement between the White House and tech companies on a voluntary “do-not-track” (DNT) system for web browsing — accompanied by a framework for a more comprehensive vision of the nation’s privacy policies — …