Electronic Privacy Information Center

Markey, EPIC Won’t Let Google Wi-Spy Die

John Paczkowski in News on April 18 at 3:03 pm PT

The outcry over Google’s Wi-Spy debacle continues.

Viral Radio: Facebook Flap

Kara Swisher in News on October 21, 2010 at 1:18 am PT

Here’s a radio interview BoomTown did earlier this week on San Francisco’s KQED “Forum” show, hosted by Michael Krasny. The topic was a report in the The Wall Street Journal that certain third-party apps on Facebook were grabbing information about users in ways that violated the social networking site’s privacy guidelines.

Germany Questions Google’s Data “Mistake”

John Paczkowski in News on May 18, 2010 at 3:59 am PT

With its admission last week that its Street View cars unwittingly captured data sent over unsecured wireless Wi-Fi networks, Google appears to have run afoul of regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. Sources familiar with the matter say the Federal Trade Commission is considering an inquiry into the matter, and the panel of European privacy regulators that advises the European Commission is calling for a full investigation to determine exactly what information was collected and whether the manner of collection was a violation of privacy law.

A “Do Not Call The FTC About Facebook Privacy” Registry? Great Idea, Tim.

John Paczkowski in News on May 10, 2010 at 10:50 am PT

Perfect. Facebook has enlisted a former senior Bush administration regulator to defend its privacy practices in Washington. Tim Muris, who served as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission from 2001 to 2004 and created the popular U.S. Do Not Call Registry, is advising the company, whose privacy disclosures and fast and loose handling of user data are increasingly drawing scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

Buzz Kill: FTC Urged to Investigate Google Privacy Flap

John Paczkowski in Social on March 30, 2010 at 4:39 am PT

This is obviously not to the sort of buzz Google was hoping for when it launched its new social networking service. A group of eleven U.S. lawmakers from the House Energy and Commerce Committee is calling upon the FTC to investigate Buzz for breaches in consumer privacy.

EPIC FAIL: Electronic Privacy Information Center Files FTC Complaint Over Google Buzz

John Paczkowski in Social on February 16, 2010 at 3:25 pm PT

While well-intentioned, Google’s “sorry, we didn’t get everything quite right” apology hasn’t absolved the company of the bungled launch of Buzz, its new social networking service. On Tuesday afternoon, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission claiming Buzz violates federal consumer protection law.

Feds to Facebook Privacy Critics: Let’s Talk

Peter Kafka in Media on January 19, 2010 at 1:27 pm PT

“Your most recent complaint raises issues of particular interest for us at this time.”

Chrome OS, Huh? Will It Be Based on a Google Analytics Kernel?

John Paczkowski in News on July 8, 2009 at 7:35 am PT

So Google has finally copped to developing an operating system–Chrome OS, a software platform “created for people who spend most of their time on the Web, and…designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems.” It is an extraordinary market play. And an unsettling one. For it seeks to place Google, which already collects vast amounts of data about our Internet use, at the very center of our information experience. The privacy implications of that are, of course, horrendous.