FTC

The Federal Trade Commission this morning released a wide-ranging report that stops short of endorsing a new "Do Not Track" law.

This morning's 120-page report instead asks Congress to enact a new law that "would provide consumers with access to information about them held by a data broker" such as Lexis Nexis, US Search, or Reed Elsevier subsidiary Choicepoint -- many of which have been the subject of FTC enforcement actions in the last few years.

But when it comes to a Do Not Track law targeting Web companies, which was proposed by legislation introduced last year, … Read more

Google has found itself in the middle of another privacy probe.

The Web giant is under investigation by U.S. and European regulators for bypassing user privacy settings in Apple's Safari Web browser, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. In a practice it has since ceased, Google used special code to get around Safari's privacy controls in order to track users on computers and mobile devices.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is reportedly looking into whether the Google's action violated a 2011 settlement agreement between the agency and the company over privacy concerns … Read more

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reportedly taken an interest in the mobile side of a business relationship between Apple and Google, and wants it on the record.

Citing two people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that the U.S. regulatory group has subpoenaed Apple in hopes of getting details about its mobile-search deal with Google. That includes information on the agreement that has made Google the default search engine on Apple's iPhone, iPad, and iPhone since 2007, the report said.

The subpoena, which Apple did not confirm or comment on to Bloomberg, is part of a larger investigation by the FTC … Read more

It looks like Apple and Google would rather avoid a federal smartphone privacy probe.

Sen. Charles Schumer told The New York Times today that the tech giants have agreed to meet with him to discuss concerns that applications running on their mobile operating systems violate user privacy. Smartphone privacy concerns have increased in the past couple of weeks after it was revealed that Path--a popular iOS and Android application--was found to be collecting user contact information without permission.

"We have talked to both of them today and they seem open to talking about it," the New York Democrat … Read more

Microsoft has hired a new Washington lobbyist--an FTC lawyer who has sharply criticized some of Google's acquisitions on antitrust grounds.

The software giant told the Wall Street Journal yesterday that it hired Randall Long, an official at the FTC's Bureau of Competition. When he joins the software giant at the end of the month, Long will head up Microsoft's regulatory affairs division in Washington.

Long was involved in FTC reviews of Google's acquisitions of both DoubleClick and AdMob. According to the Journal's unnamed sources, Long was especially outspoken about Google's AdMob acquisition, saying that … Read more

Consumer advocates say the Obama administration's blueprint for protecting consumers' privacy online is a good first step, but they will be watching closely to see how it's implemented.

The White House and the Federal Trade Communications today unveiled the "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights," which will serve as a policy outline for future legislation and public policy that will work to protect consumers' privacy while online from a computer or mobile phone.

The administration also worked with online advertising associations, such as the Digital Advertising Alliance and others, to revive "Do Not Track" technology … Read more

The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) today filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission claiming that Google's move to consolidate its dozens of privacy policies violates an agreement the company reached with the FTC to settle privacy complaints about the now defunct Google Buzz.

The complaint -- similar to complaints brought by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the World Privacy Forum and Consumer Watchdog -- alleges that Google is misleading users about the "real reasons" for the privacy policy change, which are due to take effect March 1. In addition, the planned policy changes violate … Read more

In a report released today, the FTC said that when it comes to mobile applications aimed at kids there is "little, if any, information in the app marketplaces about the data collection and sharing practices of these apps."

The Federal Trade Commission said that its staff searched the Apple and Android app stores for apps using the word "kids," and "encountered a diverse pool of apps for kids created by hundreds of different developers," but that privacy disclosure was lacking.

The report, titled Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing (PDF), focused … Read more

The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in an attempt to force it to prevent Google from implementing planned changes to the company's privacy policy.

The privacy group filed a complaint (PDF) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia requesting a preliminary injunction against the new rules, which are set to go into effect on March 1.

Google announced last month that it would rewrite its privacy policy to grant it explicit rights to "combine personal information" across multiple products and services. Google's … Read more