Yes. I know it is Monday. So here is what happened last week. Let’s just call it the usual suspects…
Location issues…
FTC Urged To Investigate Fog Data Science Over Location Privacy
And so it really begins, “California lawmaker Rep. Anna Eshoo, who recently introduced a bill to outlaw most forms of behavioral targeting, is now urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Fog Data Science for allegedly selling consumers’ location data to law enforcement….
…asking the FTC to investigate Fog for “unfair and deceptive acts or practices that result in severe invasions of privacy and potentially skirt Fourth Amendment protections.”
Tracking technologies…and so it begins…
Ruling Against Ad-Tech Company Spurs New Lawsuits Over Tracking
“Last month, a federal appellate panel revived claims that ad-tech company NaviStone violated a Pennsylvania wiretap law by allegedly tracking users who visited online retail sites. Since then, at least 10 new lawsuits with similar allegations have been filed against other web companies — including online pet store Chewy.com, travel service Expedia, and real estate company Zillow.com — NaviStone’s lawyers said in papers filed Friday with the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.”
and slightly scary how ‘tracking technology’ is defined in this scenario (could these just be URL parameters…)..
Meta Sued For Allegedly Tracking Smartphone Users Via In-App Browser
““Meta does not inform Facebook users that clicking on links to third-party websites from within Facebook will automatically send them to Facebook’s in-app browser, as opposed to the user’s default web browser, or that Meta will monitor their activity and communications while on those sites,” California resident Wayne Mitchell alleges in a class-action complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.”
And now, this is becoming a thing (Fake Reviews)….
FTC Wants Platforms To Crack Down On Fake Reviews
“The Federal Trade Commission has tried to curb fake reviews online since at least 2009, when it issued guidance stating that people who posted endorsements should disclose any relationship with the company being reviewed.”