privacy

French Data Regulators to Google: How About Making Your Answers to Our Questions Universally Accessible and Useful?

John Paczkowski in News on May 24 at 4:02 am PT

Just answer the damn questions, would ya?

As Social Discovery Apps Proliferate, Sonar Aims for Greater Relevance

Mike Isaac in Social on May 23 at 11:30 am PT

A small but relevant update to Sonar’s mobile application.

Privacy Experts Weigh In on Whether There Is a Cure for “Creepy” (Video)

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 22 at 4:55 pm PT

The Internet is full of identity thieves, stalkers and people generally trying to take advantage of you. In other words, it can be creepy.

News Byte

FTC Adds Privacy Expert to Help Shape Public Policy

John Paczkowski in News on May 21 at 12:42 pm PT

The Federal Trade Commission will soon have a new adviser to shape its thinking on Internet and mobile market issues. Paul Ohm, a University of Colorado law professor and former federal computer-crimes prosecutor, will join the agency in late August, taking over for Columbia University professor Tim Wu. At the FTC, Ohm, who has been at the forefront of a lot of debates about how best to apply Fourth Amendment privacy rights in the 21st century, will advise commissioners and staff on policy and enforcement cases.

SceneTap Interview: San Francisco’s Least Welcome Start-Up Explains Itself (Video)

Liz Gannes in Social on May 18 at 10:08 am PT

Of the 25 San Francisco bars supposed to launch with SceneTap today, about 10 dropped out after recent local outcry.

$$FB$$ Has Arrived: So Now What?

Mike Isaac in Social on May 18 at 5:01 am PT

Relationship Status: Public.

News Byte

Twitter Tailors Your “Who to Follow List,” but Only if You Want It

Mike Isaac in Social on May 17 at 4:18 pm PT

Twitter began rolling out tailored suggestions for users to follow on Thursday, aiming to give Twitter newcomers better direction in learning how to navigate the somewhat abstruse microblogging platform. The suggestions stem from a tracking cookie Twitter sends to new users, allowing the company to see sites visited within the past 10 days. Twitter then uses that information to recommend who to follow. Users can also opt out of this service.

News Byte

Twitter Enables “Do Not Track” Feature Across Supporting Browsers

Mike Isaac in Social on May 17 at 9:59 am PT

Twitter users on supported browsers can now opt out of being tracked by third-party sites and cookies by enabling the “Do Not Track” feature, Twitter announced on Thursday. Federal Trade Commission CTO Ed Felton championed the feature at a conference in New York on Thursday morning. Since Mozilla first introduced the feature for its Firefox browser last year, the company claims nearly 10 percent desktop-user adoption of DNT, and almost 20 percent on Firefox for mobile.

Klik App Does Mobile Facial Recognition in Real Time

Liz Gannes in Mobile on May 10 at 6:00 am PT

Is taking pictures of your friends on your phone, tagging their names and uploading them just too darn hard?

News Byte

Hackers Post Mostly Inconsequential Twitter Account Data Online

Mike Isaac in Social on May 8 at 5:59 pm PT

Someone claiming to be affiliated with the “Anonymous” hacker movement posted thousands of Twitter usernames and passwords to Pastebin on Monday evening. A Twitter spokesperson told AllThingsD that the company was looking into the matter, and pointed out that nearly half of the 55,000 accounts listed are duplicates and spam accounts. The company is pushing out new password requests to affected accounts.