activity

Wed
17
Mar
John Lister's picture

$5B Lawsuit Advances Over Chrome Incognito Privacy

Google will have to go to court to answer claims it misled users by tracking their online activity in a supposed private browsing mode. A judge agreed a lawsuit seeking $5 billion can go ahead with class action status. That status doesn't change ... Google's chances of winning or losing, but could mean much bigger consequences if it does lose. It means anyone meeting set criteria could effectively be treated as a plaintiff, eligible for any financial awards, without having to launch their own case. The case appears largely to come down to whether Google's wording is clear enough, rather than it ... (view more)

Thu
04
Feb
John Lister's picture

Facebook: Let Us Track You to Help Businesses

Facebook is to tell Apple users that it needs to track them to benefit businesses. It's a response to new Apple rules that mean users must opt-in to some forms of tracking. The messages, currently being tested, will pop up when users access Facebook ... on an iPhone or iPad. According to copies seen by CNBC, it reads as follows: Allow Facebook to use your app and website activity? Get ads that are more personalized Support businesses that rely on ads to reach customers To provide a better ads experience, we need permission to use future activity that other apps and websites send us from this ... (view more)

Wed
21
Aug
John Lister's picture

Facebook To Reveal User Tracking Secrets

Facebook is to show users what data it collects about their activity on other sites. It won't stop tracking, but will make the data anonymous if users ask. The changes will come in a new settings option called "Off-Facebook Activity." This will list ... all websites and apps that share data about user activity with Facebook. This most commonly happens through two methods. One is that the user has opted to log in to the third-party site through Facebook. In other words, as long as they haven't logged out of their Facebook account, they don't need to create or input user names and passwords for the ... (view more)

Wed
14
Feb
John Lister's picture

'Facebook Protect' VPN Tool Actually Spies on Users

The recently debuted 'Facebook Protect' feature has sparked controversy. Facebook says it's a tool to protect user privacy, but critics suggest it is nothing more than a tracking tool designed to collect user activity. The tool appears in the ... iPhone/iPad app for Facebook. Although the menu option is listed as 'Protect', it's actually a virtual private network (VPN) tool called "Onavo." A VPN works by creating the virtual equivalent of a private "tunnel" on the Internet. The tunnel then allows data to flow back and forth between a user's computer and the website or service they are ... (view more)

Thu
30
Mar
John Lister's picture

Congress: Internet Firms Can Share (Sell) Your User Activity

Congress has voted to ditch rules that would have made it harder for broadband companies to share personal user data with third party companies. The vote means Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations will not take effect. The rules were ... adopted by the FCC last October and covered broadband and wireless providers, but not websites such as Google or Facebook. Had they taken effect, the rules would have meant Internet providers could not share key data - for example with advertisers - without the explicit consent of customers. This data included browsing history, details of the apps ... (view more)

Wed
31
Oct
Dennis Faas's picture

Yahoo, Microsoft Disagree on IE10's 'Do Not Track'

Yahoo has confirmed it will not honor "Do Not Track" requests from Microsoft's Internet Explorer 10 web browser. Do Not Track is designed to protect web browser users from having their Internet activity tracked. Experts say the Yahoo decision is ... based on the way Microsoft has implemented Do Not Track and is not a sign that Yahoo stands opposed to the basic concept. Do Not Track is designed to stop websites from passing details of a web browser's online activity to advertisers. It works by voluntary compliance with the Do Not Track request, not by any enforcement method. Advertisers argue that ... (view more)

Mon
21
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Internet Explorer 9 Doubles Web Privacy Control

Microsoft has announced that Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) supports two separate technologies for restricting access to information related to a user's online activity. One of the privacy features was recently prompted by the Federal Trade Commission ... (FTC). Both technologies involve the way websites share data with third-parties. The most prominent example is with advertisements that appear on a page; for example, rather than simply linking ads to the page content (such as a newspaper site running golf equipment ads alongside a golf match report), a site might pass on details of all the pages a ... (view more)

Tue
26
Oct
Dennis Faas's picture

'Network Activity Indicator for Windows 7 v1.6,' and 'Super 2010 Build 39'

Network Activity Indicator for Windows 7 v1.6 In previous versions of Windows, network activity was represented in the Windows taskbar icon which used two computer monitors to demonstrate network activity. However, this icon / feature was later ... removed by Microsoft in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Network Activity Indicator brings back the old 'two monitors' icon in Windows 7, which flashes blue to show network activity on the System Tray. Unlike the original Windows XP utility (that has individual indicators for each interface), this program indicates outgoing and incoming network packets on ... (view more)

Mon
17
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

'Boxee', and 'HD Activity Indicator'

Boxee Boxee is a free, open-source software program that allows users to share information about what they're listening to or watching with other Boxee users or friends on social networks like twitter, facebook, etc. Boxee is designed for your TV ... and use of a remote control. See site for full details. http://www.boxee.tv HD Activity Indicator This utility that indicates the hard disk drive activity in a tray icon; requires .NET framework. http://www.limbo-online.tk Today's fresh software picks were provided courtesy of Bob Helmer at Shell Extension City. Please note that the below software ... (view more)

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