With the news of the iPhone tracking you whereabouts spreading around the web and now also Google being looked at when it comes to Android Google felt it had to get a video re-launched from just two weeks ago. In this video Matt Cutts answers a question about what Google does with the DNS data they are getting. To be really honest: it is a bit of a bumpy answer with a lot of ‘I think’ and ‘maybe’ in there. He knows one thing for sure: the webspam team doesn’t use it. But that doesn’t mean other teams at Google don’t 
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State of Search
Posts About ‘Privacy’
Aren’t we looking at this whole privacy thing from the wrong angle?
One of the hot topics on the web currently is privacy. What can companies like Google or Facebook store from us when it comes to personal data? Can they store anything at all? Do we want Google to be taking pictures of our streets? Should we ban cookies all together? All questions asked by different people, organizations and even regulation officers.
A lot of regulations are taking place, Google is moving towards more privacy options and even governments are interfering. But it looks like we might be overdoing it. And we should be looking at a different angle of it all. (more…)
Worlds upside down: Google and Facebook taking France to court in privacy issue
Ask anybody on the web which companies scare them the most when it comes to privacy matters. In nine out of ten cases there are two names mentioned: Google and Facebook. After all, they are the companies that gather and hold the most information from its users.
Both companies also get taken to court once every few months by a country or some sort of commission. That can be for antitrust issues, but also for privacy matters, think Streetview in for example Germany. Google and Facebook however have now turned things around: they are suing France over privacy matters. (more…)
Google gets fined €100,000 for privacy breach in France
The Associated Press reports that France’s privacy watchdog CNIL has given Google a fine of no less than €100,000 ($141,300) for privacy issues in relation to Streetview.
The fine is apparently given for “improperly gathering and storing potentially sensitive data from Wi-Fi networks for its Street View application”. This means they have collected e-mail, passwords and other personal information while driving around France collecting the data. (more…)
Facebook is going to relaunch giving away phone and addresses
It is what seems to be a typical Facebook move. Halfway through January Facebook announced it would be “making a user’s address and mobile phone number accessible as part of the User Graph object”. Which meant no less than “we are giving away your phone numbers and addresses”.
The enormous amount of criticism around the world Facebook pulled back the option just one day later. They didn’t say they would not be doing it all, they just postponed it. And Facebook will do shortly what it has always done in situations like this. It will bring back a slightly adjusted feature. A letter to Congressmen Markey and Barton suggests that. (more…)
Google Futuresight: The Future of Privacy Rights
This is a guestpost by Brandon Moreau – Webmaster for Citiguarda Sydney Security Company, and DelMonico Hatter, seller of Borsalino hats for over 100 Years. Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily State of Search. This article is the first of a series dealing with privacy, technology, and where we are all headed.
Brandon is simultaneously a Technophile and Techno-skeptic. He is an avid reader of Stateofsearch.com and is grateful to Bas for the opportunity to guest post on this topic.
So, what does the future hold?
One of the favorite pastimes of SEO specialists the world over has got to be the art/science of Google speculation. Like extremely dense chocolate cake, however, it is not always advisable to indulge in it to overdose, and there is a significant chance that doing so may result in headaches, nausea, and the definite feeling of quiet overwhelm at forces beyond your control. (more…)
Tweets can, may and will be used against you by the press
We all know that what we put on the web ‘never goes away’. At least, not for a while. So what we put on Social Media is something which we should think about. Don’t just throw party pics on there if you are right in the middle of getting that perfect job. Think about whether or not you really want to be calling someone names on the web. We all know that. Right? Wrong…
Unfortunately one of the issues with Social Media is that many think that what they put on the web is theirs and theirs only. They couldn’t be more wrong. Social Media allows others to take that public content and run with it.
For those who didn’t realize that it has now been made official by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in the UK. They responded to complaints about articles published in the Daily Mail and the Independent in which Tweets were placed from Sarah Baskerville, an official from the Department of Transport. She had tweeted to her followers about having a hang over while at work. (more…)
Don’t want personal ads? Google lets you opt-out
There has been a lot of discussion over the past few months about cookies. Yes, the cookies on the computer. Those that register what you do online. And those that provide you with content which is much more personal then it was in the past.
But not everybody likes that. In fact, it has been the debate in the European Union for the past year whether or not we should all be opting in for the cookies, meaning we would be accepting (or not) cookies by clicking on an acceptance button every time we visit a webpage. This debate ran not only in Europe, but also in the US where the FTC looked into a mechanism that could help to easily opt out of the cookies.
One of the biggest ‘targets’ in the discussion has been Google. The search giant has been aimed at by privacy commissioners all over the world. And now that company announces a new extension on Google Chrome which does exactly what the FTC wants: opt out of ad tracking cookies. They launch the “Keep My Opt-Outs” extension. (more…)
Update: Facebook postpones sharing of phone numbers and addresses
Yesterday I wrote about a new ‘feature’ in Facebook which meant that third party developers would now be able to easily pick up phone numbers and addresses from Facebook. To be honest, I wasn’t the only one writing about it.
Just shortly after their announcement on the subject last Friday Facebook now pulls back. The feature will be changed and until then the feature is “on hold”. It looks like Facebook listened to the criticism. (more…)
Facebook New Feature: The start of a Beautiful Friendship (Page)?
Facebook have released a new, slightly creepy feature, apparently around a week ago. I’m not sure if this is a phased roll-out, or if I’m just not watching closely enough, as I discovered this feature yesterday. Hang tight and I’ll take you on a little pedestrian journey through my social sphere and then we won’t be strangers any more.
Lunchtime – I see that my friend and fellow SEO Chicks and State of Search blogger Lisa Myers, has posted a new picture of baby Isla. I click on the picture and write my comment, then go to Lisa’s profile, to update myself on what she’s been up to in the past few days of maternity leave. That’s when I spotted this… (more…)
Want to see the German blurred houses unblurred? Use an iPhone
We can go on and on about Streetview and Google issues so it seems. We reported last week Google got a slap on the wrist in the UK and this morning that it might be in trouble over data gathering in the US. Meanwhile the next issue pops up in Germany. There many houses are blurred because of privacy regulations. But it turns out that if you are using an iPad or iPhone the blurring isn’t going too well.
PC World tells us some properties to be visible rather than blurred in a preview of the service launched last week. (more…)
Google committed “significant breach” of UK’s Data Protection Act, but gets away
Just last week we told you that Google might face charges in the UK for taking e-mails, e-mail passwords, addresses and other data when collecting Streetview data in the UK. After Google admitted that it had taken that data The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said they would now re-investigate after previous investigations had finished already.
The UK information commissioner, Christopher Graham, now confirms Google committed a “significant breach” of the UK’s Data Protection Act. He however does not feel that Google needs to pay a fine. Google however has been ordered to delete the data it collected and sign an undertaking that it won’t happen again. Plus they want Google to further train their employees. (more…)
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