online privacy news stories on Newser

Everybody's Lying on Facebook

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:38:22 CDT

How to protect your privacy on Facebook? For an increasing number of users, the answer is simple: Lie. A quarter of respondents in a new Consumer Reports study admitted that they “alter personally identifiable information,” such as birthdate, on Facebook. Technically, that’s a violation of the social networking site’s Terms...

House Passes Controversial Cybersecurity Bill

Rob Quinn — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:21:10 CDT

The controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act has passed the House, despite privacy concerns and a veto threat from the White House. CISPA, designed to make it easier for companies and the government to share information about cybersecurity threats, passed 248-168, which isn't a big enough margin to override...

Strip-Search Case Proves Privacy Is Dead

Matt Cantor — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:26:04 CDT

The Supreme Court's ruling upholding prisoner strip-searches is an indicator of a much wider trend. Such searches compromise human dignity, but in the court case, not even the dissenting justices argued against all strip-searches, writes Noah Feldman in Bloomberg . That's because "privacy, as we know it, is dying." And the...

Obama Fan? His Voter Database Is Watching You

John Johnson — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:44:51 CDT

President Obama's re-election campaign has by all accounts an impressive voter database that is getting more comprehensive by the day. But exactly how much information it is storing about supporters and what it intends to do with the cache remain big unknowns because the campaign won't talk about it, reports...

FTC to Ad Firms: Get a Real 'Do Not Track' Option Online

Rob Quinn — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 06:48:39 CDT

When consumers say they don't want their online activity monitored by companies mining data out of their every click they mean it, the Federal Trade Commission warned yesterday. The consumer protection agency said that if technology and advertising companies can't voluntarily create an effective and easy to use "Do Not...

Facebook to Employers: Stop Demanding Passwords

John Johnson — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:57:27 CDT

Facebook has taken note of the recent trend of employers demanding that prospective or current employees hand over their passwords, and it issued a clear warning to such companies today: Knock it off. "As a user, you shouldn’t be forced to share your private information and communications just to get...

US, EU Launch New Google Privacy Probes

Matt Cantor — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:32:00 CDT

Last month, it emerged that Google was skirting privacy settings on Apple's Safari browser; now federal, state, and European Union officials are investigating the since-halted practice, which centers on the installation of tracking files. Google faces a $16,000 fine per violation per day—which could add up to quite...

Girl, ACLU Sue School Over Facebook Flap

John Johnson — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:24:05 CST

Maybe this kind of thing will start sounding familiar soon? A 12-year-old girl in Minnesota is suing her school with the help of the ACLU because she says administrators made her hand over her Facebook password and pored over her account, reports CNN . The move came after the girl got...

Some Employers, Schools Demand Facebook Logins

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:33:20 CST

Some employers and colleges have found an ingenious way around Facebook's pesky privacy settings: Simply demand that applicants or students friend you, give you a tour of their account, or even divulge their usernames and passwords. MSNBC reports on a number of places instituting the troubling practices: At Maryland's Department...