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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."

12 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 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
  2. 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 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!
  3. 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.

  4. 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 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?

  5. 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"?

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

    Magic_Printer_Website

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  7. 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.

  8. 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?