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FTC May Cast A Closer Eye On How Businesses Share Personal Data

Posted by timothy on from the you're-saying-you-didn't-read-the-even-finer-print dept.

Personal information shared by users with corporate websites is nothing new; you probably routinely log in to sites to which you've provided information about your age and location, or provided a credit card number in order to buy merchandise. At least sometimes, some of that information is shared in ways that the typical user would probably neither anticipate nor appreciate. David Vladeck, new head of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, has signaled recently that he's interested in tighter regulation of personal information shared online, even when it falls under the often-sweeping language of privacy agreements and sites' terms of use. An interview at the New York Times provides some insight into the regulatory environment that companies operating online may face in the course of the present administration — and it looks more stringent than online businesses have faced before, even while Vladeck shies away from saying that he supports "new rules."

49 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. I'm from the government... by gavron · · Score: 2, Insightful
    ...and I'm here to help you protect your privacy.

    Please show me your RFID passport, give your liquids to the nice man from the TSA, and tell me your social-security number so I can enter it into my laptop.

    1. Re:I'm from the government... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      . . . give your liquids to the nice man from the TSA . . .

      "I refuse to give them my 'precious bodily fluids'" - General Jack Ripper

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    2. Re:I'm from the government... by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      . . . give your liquids to the nice man from the TSA . . .

      "I refuse to give them my 'precious bodily fluids'" - General Jack Ripper

      You don't avoid the TSA, you just refuse them your essence.

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
    3. Re:I'm from the government... by joocemann · · Score: 1

      ... conveniently not noticing that the parent didn't say anything about administrations...

      gtfo tard

    4. Re:I'm from the government... by HangingChad · · Score: 1

      ...and I'm here to help you protect your privacy.

      Can we please give the government a little credit when they at least try to start trying to do the right thing? Is that too much trouble?

      Would the FTC even have thought of anything like this during the last administration? Personally, after a decade of corporate anal rampage, I'm happy to see consumer protection starting to make a comeback. At least it's a step in the right direction.

      --
      That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
    5. Re:I'm from the government... by rtb61 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Privacy invasions certainly are not what they used to be. Now trained psychologists, in fact people with doctrates, work on wasy to manipulate peoples choices on an individual basis not for the benefit of the people they are manipulating but for greater profits for corporations. It is hard to tell those psychologists that worked with tortures to make that torture more effective of those psychologists who try to manipulate societies to feed the greed of a minority regardless of the the harm, they know, not figuratively but literally know exactly what kind of damage they are doing to individuals and to society as a whole.

      So the FTC and the medical profession as a whole should bore it right up 'em. Not only who they share that data with but also what they do with that data and the legal implications of using that data in a very perverted manner compared to the intent of training people in psychology. It is really pretty sick that they use what was intended to make people mentally healthier is instead used to manipulate them and make what amounts to mentally unhealthy, there really has to be some serious ramifications for that kind of abuse.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    6. Re:I'm from the government... by JNSL · · Score: 1

      Can we please give the government a little credit when they at least try to start trying to do the right thing? Is that too much trouble?

      Neither a fan of Bush nor Obama here - pretty ambivalent. But you'd be kidding yourself if you didn't think each administration wasn't doing what they thought was the right thing with respect to issues like this.

    7. Re:I'm from the government... by Ironica · · Score: 1

      ...and I'm here to help you protect your privacy.

      Please show me your RFID passport, give your liquids to the nice man from the TSA, and tell me your social-security number so I can enter it into my laptop.

      1) That's what this is for.
      2) My liquids don't really say much about me that's personally identifiable.
      3) "The government" is pretty explicit on just how your SSN should NOT be used as an identifier except by very particular agencies, and never as a password. The folks who violate this premise most frequently are private businesses who want to make sure they can tell on you to the credit agencies if they decide you owe them money. While there have been cases of laptops containing personally identifiable info, including SSNs, stolen from federal agencies, there have been far, far more such cases with private companies (and a handful from state agencies or public universities).

      Yeah, when it comes to protecting my privacy, I trust the Feds a whole heck of a lot more than I trust private corporations. But, as I once was told by a fortune cookie, "Trust him, but keep your eyes open." Ultimately, I'm the person who is most likely to protect my privacy. The less of my info I put in someone else's hands, the better.

      --
      Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
    8. Re:I'm from the government... by Ironica · · Score: 1

      Neither a fan of Bush nor Obama here - pretty ambivalent. But you'd be kidding yourself if you didn't think each administration wasn't doing what they thought was the right thing with respect to issues like this.

      Well, yes... but under Bush, "What was right" was "If you don't have anything to hide, why do you need privacy?" Fear of terr'rists was used to bully Americans into giving up their expectation of privacy in their everyday lives. At the same time, corporate regulation was almost a swear-word.

      This move is definitely in a different direction, and it's one I think we've needed for a loooooong time. Why should only health care providers be required to protect your personal info?

      --
      Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
    9. Re:I'm from the government... by JNSL · · Score: 1

      To be clear, I was responding to HangingChad's plea for credit to the Obama administration. It had nothing to do with whether I thought the policy should or shouldn't have been as it is or was, for either administration, but whether the administration was trying to do the right thing. Both tried. You agree that one got it right, and the other didn't. Fine. I probably even agree with you. But credit is deserved for anybody who tries to do the right thing, and both administrations deserve credit for that. If HangingChad wants to provide general praise for that sort of thing, he shouldn't talk out of both sides of his/her mouth.

    10. Re:I'm from the government... by Ironica · · Score: 1

      To be clear, I was responding to HangingChad's plea for credit to the Obama administration. It had nothing to do with whether I thought the policy should or shouldn't have been as it is or was, for either administration, but whether the administration was trying to do the right thing. Both tried. You agree that one got it right, and the other didn't. Fine. I probably even agree with you. But credit is deserved for anybody who tries to do the right thing, and both administrations deserve credit for that. If HangingChad wants to provide general praise for that sort of thing, he shouldn't talk out of both sides of his/her mouth.

      Well, it depends on who is defining "the right thing." Yes, everyone, individually, is trying to do what they think is "right." When an undiagnosed schizophrenic kills someone because god told them to, they're "trying to do the right thing." When Harry Truman ordered the first and last nuclear strikes on live targets, he was "trying to do the right thing." When John Scopes taught his class about evolution, he was "trying to do the right thing." The public opinion may or may not agree with the individual, and may even change as time goes on.

      But I think HangingChad was discussing it in a different sense. The prevailing opinion on this forum tends to be that there is insufficient protection of individual privacy. Therefore, "trying to do the right thing" is to strengthen those protections. The Obama administration is doing that; the Bush administration did the opposite.

      --
      Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
  2. What took so long? by TerrenceCoggins · · Score: 1

    Better late than never... is what I'd like to say, but jeez! It's already 2009 and this security flaw is still un-patched! Hope they get past the "investigation" phase and on to the part where things get "fixed".

  3. Next step... by tacarat · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Hi. We noticed that you've been buying a lot of condoms/birth control pills, lube and are not currently being treated for any STDs. Would you a like a free membership to our dating website?"

    "Hi. We noticed that your spouse has been buying a lot of condoms/birth control pills, lube and motel rooms within 25 miles of your home. Can we interest you in our "Super Slueth" private investigation package?"

    Yaddah yaddah.

    --
    "Common sense will be the death of us all"
    1. Re:Next step... by vbraga · · Score: 3, Funny

      Better

      "Hi. We noticed that your spouse has been buying a lot of condoms/birth control pills, lube and motel rooms within 25 miles of your home. Can we interest you in our "Super Slueth" private investigation package?"

      than

      "Hi. We noticed that your spouse has been buying a lot of condoms/birth control pills, lube and motel rooms within 25 miles of your home. Would you like to see our offers on firearms?"

      --
      English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
    2. Re:Next step... by tacarat · · Score: 1

      Great synergy there! "Hi. We noticed that your spouse has been buying a lot of condoms/birth control pills, lube and motel rooms within 25 miles of your home. Would you like to see our offers on firearms?" would be followed by "Hi. We noticed you just got arrested for murder. Would you like to get 10 free rate quotes from defense lawyers in your area?".

      --
      "Common sense will be the death of us all"
    3. Re:Next step... by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 1

      The latter makes business sense; they could then contact the spouse with, "Hi, we noticed that your spouse is purchasing firearms in response to your infidelity; can we interest you in buying Kevlar vests and firearms as well?"

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    4. Re:Next step... by DMUTPeregrine · · Score: 1

      Then later, "Hi, we noticed you've been buying digging equipment and quicklime. Would you like to see our offers on criminal defense lawyers?"

      --
      Not a sentence!
    5. Re:Next step... by PPH · · Score: 1
      More like:

      "Hi. I'm a representative of the foreign subsidiary of a major US telecom company that handles customer support offshore. We have compiled a list of phone numbers that frequenly contact certain exchanges in Langely, Virginia. We can make this list available to you for a small fee.

      Das vidanye, comrade."

      Whoops. Too late. That stuff has been for sale for some time now.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    6. Re:Next step... by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's like what somebody said about buying your wife a gun: it's like you've decided to commit suicide, but you want it to be a surprise.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  4. Re:Can someone please explain by gavron · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, Linux works for all the rest of us. Every single one. You're the control group.

  5. Best practices by kent_eh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    One place to start is to look at best practices of other governments.
    I'm un-characteristically proud of what the government of Canada did in the Privacy Act, and the creation of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

    Of course, it's not perfect, but It's pretty good. Especially compared to what I see in the rest of the world.

    --

    ---
    "I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh
    1. Re:Best practices by joocemann · · Score: 1

      This can't be true. Fox News just had a number of canada analysts on that directly said that most canadians hate their privacy acts and systems for personal information protection.

      Are you telling me that Fox would put up with paying someone who would lie to me about reality?

    2. Re:Best practices by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Wow, you mean like the data protection laws that Europe has had for decades?

      Which doesn't work any better than anywhere else in the western world.
      Stolen this, Phorm that, misplaced everything else.

      tell us...who is in jail after violating these 'data protection laws'? What companies and CEOs have been shut down?

    3. Re:Best practices by Dare+nMc · · Score: 1

      Wow, you mean like the data protection laws that Europe has had for decades?

      Your bank details belong to us, well since Sept 2001 anyway, almost a decade.

    4. Re:Best practices by Snarf+You · · Score: 1

      Your bank details belong to us

      I believe the correct wording is "All your bank are belong to us"

  6. Re:Can someone please explain by Jurily · · Score: 2, Informative

    how they use linux without any drivers that work? I can't print a damn thing!

    Notice the semantical difference between "I can not" and "it does not"?

  7. Re:Can someone please explain by FudRucker · · Score: 2, Funny

    Magic_Printer_Website

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  8. Re:Can someone please explain by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 1, Informative

    You must be new here; on Slashdot, we are all capable of installing Linux and getting a printer working without breaking a sweat. But we won't tell you how, because learning how to do figure it out yourself that is more important that just having us tell you what to do.

    --
    Palm trees and 8
  9. Re:Can someone please explain by sys.stdout.write · · Score: 1

    I am here to report a broken link! The website you provided me does not work.

    System specs:
    Intel Core Duo 2.4GHz
    1 GB RAM
    OS: Microsoft Windows XP

  10. Re:Can someone please explain by FudRucker · · Score: 1

    install cups and foomatic filters and ghostscript-fonts, the open a terminal and do" sudo cupsd and then try that link again

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  11. Re:Can someone please explain by Snarf+You · · Score: 1

    Did you try adding more memory?

  12. Re:Can someone please explain by FudRucker · · Score: 1

    oops, missed a few steps

    remove windowsXP, install a complete GNU/Linux desktop including cups and foomatic filters and ghostscript-fonts, the open a terminal and do" sudo cupsd and then try that link again

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  13. Re:Can someone please explain by sys.stdout.write · · Score: 1

    Indeed. In fact, I was surprised to find that CUPS worked on my Mac. I guess it makes sense since OS X is UNIX-based, but still..

  14. Re:Can someone please explain by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

    Well, let's start with the basics. Did you plug the goddamned printer in YOU MORON?!?!?!

    (Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted! What idiots - I intended to shout!)

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  15. Re:Hey, how's that "Hope & Change" working out by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

    "so my self-esteem is not predicated on how popular I perceive myself to be"

    How commendable. I can relate to that. I could relate even more, if you were willing to sign your name, anonymous COWARD.

    Meanwhile - I've downloaded the PDF containing the law being discussed everywhere. It is neither the abandonment of the elderly that Sarah Bigmouth Palin claims it to be, nor is it the end-all be-all cure for everything that ails us.

    With 1018 pages, it's going to take some time to digest all of it, but so far, it looks like a reasoned attempt to save money - MY money, as much as anyone's money - while actually ensuring that just plain Po' Folk get treatment when they need it.

    OF COURSE there are problems with it. But, it does attempt to address real problems with the existing system.

    Now, take your bigoted ass down the road, BOY!

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  16. Lip Service by PingXao · · Score: 2

    This is window dressing and nothing more. Vladeck himself says he doesn't favor more legislation. This is theater of the absurd because the FTC cares about our privacy about as much as they do about spam.

    1. Re:Lip Service by hedwards · · Score: 1

      What makes you think that the FTC doesn't care about spam? It's a difficult problem and without congress giving them the ability to directly fine companies who appear in spam messages, I'm not sure how exactly they're going to be able to solve it. Unless I'm missing something and they're able to do that without specific legislative approval.

      I can pretty much guarantee that a significant amount of spam would go away if companies were fined for paying spammers to advertise. It's not going to deal with phishing or other similar spam related crimes, but it would at least dry up that area of activity.

      As far as this topic goes, I'd like to see some sort of regulation that requires the approval of the customer whenever records are transferred as part of a merger or acquisition. And definitely a clear listing of who is an affiliate when authorizing third party data sharing. And while we're at it of who it is that's authorized to run scripts on pages that don't appear to come from the server itself.

  17. Re:Can someone please explain by MartinSchou · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wouldn't it be fun if that's how they taught you a new language in schools?

    Hand you an English to Chinese dictionary (but without phonetics) and then punch you in the face whenever you made a mistake?

  18. Re:Can someone please explain by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 1

    You must be new here; on Slashdot, we are all capable of installing Linux and getting a printer working without breaking a sweat. But we won't tell you how, because learning how to do figure it out yourself that is more important that just having us tell you what to do.

    In other words, you don't know either.

  19. Re:Can someone please explain by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 1
    1. Check your sarcasm meter, clearly it is malfunctioning
    2. I could not even begin to diagnose his printer problems with the details he gave. The post was appropriately modded Flamebait, because he is a troll.
    --
    Palm trees and 8
  20. Re:Hey, how's that "Hope & Change" working out by joocemann · · Score: 1

    How you describe Obama fanatics (and equate that minority to all supporters or 'liberals/progressives') demonstrates just how bigoted and shallow your view of people is. Of course I will attack you if your blathering resembles blatant ignorance and intolerance.

    Did you get a boner over Bush being a 'strong leader' while missing all his big muckups? Better yet, how great was it to watch John McCain sell his soul and backbone for GOP support and flip flop about 100x more than Kerry ever did?

    But I"m not saying all conservatives are that naive... I'm not santa clause nor would I ever try to generalize such a large group of people so hastily and recklessly.

    The great thing about publicly expressed opinion is that despite how little you care about how your message is received, other people DO care about how you deliver and what you've got to say. Subsequently you'll only be less and less credited as you show how foolish your view of the world is.

    I am not too happy about Obama, either -- but thats not really cause to be a bigot. I definitely pay respect to conservatives that follow a more traditional feel like Ron Paul supporters.

    Even if you're old, please grow up. Its kinda annoying telling adult-age people how to respect one another. Thanks.

  21. Re:Hey, how's that "Hope & Change" working out by joocemann · · Score: 1

    Ahhh.. I see how you can be so blatant.. you post as an Anonymous Coward. Its nice that slashdot knows to call you out on that.

    Put your name up. You talk tuff and boisterous when you've got a veil to hide behind.

    pfft... you mean nothing.

  22. Re:Hey, how's that "Hope & Change" working out by joocemann · · Score: 1

    Still a coward. I won't even read your posts you worthless bag of bigot garbage. Put your name up or be ignored.

  23. Re:Can someone please explain by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 1

    1. My sarcasm meter is working fine. Slashdot is just not a good conductor of sarcasm.

    2. If he's a troll, why didn't they mod him troll instead of flamebait?

    But that wasn't why I replied the way I did. I'm just really sensitive to people replying to questions with something that isn't even an attempt at an answer. And what drives me even more crazy than that is when they reply to an answer with a link to a Google search that supposedly will return the answer. As if we're just all supposed to depend on Google instead of a forum dedicated to the subject at hand. And you got modded Informative without actually providing any information. That's something other than sarcasm.

  24. Re:Hey, how's that "Hope & Change" working out by joocemann · · Score: 1

    If you understood communism you wouldn't look so stupid.

    Sorry if this seems like flamebait, but this anonymous coward obviously doesn't know what he's talking about.

    I can't talk to an idiot who doesn't know the meanings of words he even says.

  25. Re:Can someone please explain by quickOnTheUptake · · Score: 1

    What's more Apple owns it.

    --
    Mod points: Guaranteed to remove your sense of humor.
    Side effects may include gullibility and temporary retardation
  26. Re:Hey, how's that "Hope & Change" working out by PubliusValerius · · Score: 1

    I'm so proud!

  27. Re:Hey, how's that "Hope & Change" working out by PubliusValerius · · Score: 1

    Is this what passes for a counter argument now days?

    Anon: 1, Jooce: 0

  28. Re:Hey, how's that "Hope & Change" working out by joocemann · · Score: 1

    Yes.. Ad Hominem... what you've been doing since your first post.

    stfu child. your mouth gets bigger with every scoop from the silver spoon.