QuickLinks - Data Protection (privacy)

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Issue no. 169 - 16 September 2000

• The Public Voice in Privacy Policy (Privacy International / EPIC)
  27 September 2000, Venice, Italy in conjunction with the 22nd International Conference on Privacy and Personal Data Protection.

• IKEA exposes customer information on catalog site (CNET News.com)
  Home furnishings retailer IKEA closed its online catalog order site after a privacy breach made the personal information of tens of thousands of its customers available online. see also Gaffe at Amazon leaves email addresses exposed (CNET News.com).

Issue no. 168 - 9 September 2000

• "Safe Harbor" decision published (Official Journal)
  Commission Decision of 26 July 2000 pursuant to Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the adequacy of the protection provided by the safe harbour privacy principles and related frequently asked questions issued by the US Department of Commerce OJ L 215 25 August 2000 p 7. see also Decisions re Switzerland and Hungary.

• Judge rules on Toysmart (AP)
  A federal bankruptcy judge declined to place advance conditions on the proposed sale of the customer list of bankrupt Internet toy retailer Toysmart.com.

• Privacy group accused of breaking own rules (AP)
  Truste, an advocacy organization that runs a privacy seal-of-approval program for retail Web sites and shows companies how to write effective privacy policies, itself has tracked Web surfers with means not mentioned in its own privacy policy.

• USA - Contending with COPPA Confusion (Wired)
  Nearly 200 players in the online children's market showed up in Washington, D.C., to get schooled by the FTC on COPPA. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act requires that sites collecting personal information from children under age 13 must obtain parental permission first. Listen to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Public Training Program (hearings.com) and see also Disney May Sponsor Child Internet Privacy Workshop (Newsbytes)
  The Federal Trade Commission workshop was so successful that Disney representatives agreed to host a similar event on the West Coast.

Issue no. 167 - 6 August 2000

• Net marketing firm receiving personal information (AP)
  A security and privacy firm that does risk assessments for Internet retailers has found that four retailers, toy retailer Toysrus.com and its babies' products site, Babiesrus.com, and sportswear sites Lucy.com and Fusion.com, are forwarding the personally identifiable information of customers to another firm, Coremetrics, in violation of the retailers' stated privacy policies. Two of the retailers, both sportswear vendors, sport the TRUSTe privacy seal, which is meant to indicate a commitment to customer privacy.

Issue no. 166 - 30 July 2000

• Dutch Internet Providers cancel deal with law enforcement (Heise Online)
  Dutch Internet providers have cancelled their deal with law enforcement on the voluntary provision of confidential client information in the case of cybercrime investigations. The reason was a court decision last May, when a judge ruled the provision of confidential client information was not lawful.

• Online Privacy 101 (TheStandard.com)
  TrustE, the nonprofit advocacy group that has stamped its privacy seal of approval on nearly 2,000 Web sites will team up with a dozen major Internet companies to launch a "Multimedia Consumer Privacy Education Campaign".

• EU - Commission approves "safe harbor" (Press Release)
  The European Commission has adopted a Decision determining that an arrangement put in place by the US Department of Commerce known as the "safe harbor" provides adequate protection for personal data transferred from the EU. At the same time, the Commission has adopted similar Decisions concerning Switzerland and Hungary.

• USA - FTC backs Net advertisers' privacy push (AP)
  The Federal Trade Commission voted to endorse the self-regulatory plan submitted by the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), a consortium of major Internet advertising companies to regulate the secret gathering of information used to profile Web customers. see also Advertising: Government and Internet Ad Group Reach Agreement on Web Surfer Data (New York Times) and FTC Issues Report on Online Profiling (Press Release)

• USA - FTC-Toysmart Agreement Criticized (The Standard)
  A consent agreement between the Federal Trade Commission and Toysmart.com has run aground in a federal bankruptcy court in Boston, with dozens of states and a privacy watchdog group arguing that the settlement doesn't go far enough to protect consumers' privacy.

Issue no. 165 - 22 July 2000

• Applause for IE's Cookie Catcher (Wired)
  Microsoft is developing a set of features for its Web browser to provide privacy controls for users. The additions for Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser will describe cookies to the user and differentiate between first- and third-party cookies. The browser will then let the user refuse third-party cookies.

• Nearly undetectable tracking device raises concern (CNET News.com)
  A widely used, yet virtually undetectable, means of tracking people's Internet surfing habits, often called Web bugs or 1-pixel gifs, is joining its better-known cousin, the cookie, as the subject of several lawsuits and a privacy initiative by the government. see also The Web Bug FAQ.

• US to defend net privacy (FT)
  The US is set to overhaul the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, extending the same protection to internet and mobile phone messages as applies to telephone calls. The new laws will also shut off loopholes that make it easier for some cable users to escape prosecution for cyber crimes.

• UK - Workplace snooping (law.com)
  John Bowers QC examines an employee's right to respect for his private and family life and his correspondence at work.

• USA - FTC Goes Public With Privacy (Wired)
  FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle predicted election-year pressure could force congress to enact additional privacy laws in the next few months. Swindle is an outspoken foe of regulation-happy bureaucrats, and has dissented on some FTC decisions related to privacy in the past.

• USA - Online stalwarts beef up privacy initiatives (CNET News.com)
  Trying to quell concern over online profiling, several major Internet players are stepping up efforts to give Net surfers more notice about their privacy online.

• USA - Toysmart.com in Settlement With FTC (New York Times)
  Over the continued objections of privacy advocates and attorneys general of 39 states, the Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement to permit Toysmart.com, a defunct online toy seller, to sell its customer database as part of its bankruptcy plan. see also Toysmart sued over customer data sale (AP)

• USA - Web Sites Warned to Comply With Children's Online Privacy Law (Press Release)
  The Federal Trade Commission is sending e-mails to scores of Web sites directed to children to alert them that they must comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and its implementing regulations if they are collecting personally identifiable information from children under 13.

• Experts Claim Netscape Browser "Spies" On Users (Newsbytes)
  A class-action lawsuit against America Online, owners of Netscape, claims the company has used the Smart Download Feature to "spy" on browser users as they retrieve certain kinds of files from servers across the Internet. Now a team at German Internet publication tecChannel has confirmed that the system forwards to a Netscape server information on every file it helps users download via the web, even when those files are not hosted on Netscape or AOL servers.

• Privacy Grows Up as CPOs Move In (Wired)
  Internet advertisers and Web executives advised their industry colleagues to fire any lawyer who says not to fret yet over Internet privacy practices. They also had advised to hire a "chief privacy officer".

Issue no. 164 - 15 July 2000

• EU - Commissioner to recommend data deal with U.S. (Total Telecom)
  The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Frits Bolkestein, is to recommend that the European Commission formally accepts the U.S. "safe harbor" offer for data protection, in spite of protests in the European Parliament that the arrangement is inadequate. see also E.U. Unlikely to Seek Renegotiation of Data Deal With U.S. (Associated Press).

• USA - F.T.C. Moves to Halt Sale of Database at Toysmart (New York Times)
  The Federal Trade Commission has sued to prevent Toysmart.com, a bankrupt Internet toy retailer, from selling its database of customer information, asserting the company had assured hundreds of thousands of online visitors their personal data would never be shared with a third party. see also complaint and FTC Sues Web Store Over Plan To Sell Data (Washington Post), Toysmart Flap Triggers Privacy Bill (E-Commerce Times).

• USA - FTC clamps down on Web pharmacies (Associated Press)
  In a crackdown on Web sites offering Viagra and similar drugs, the Federal Trade Commission has reached settlements with a group of Web pharmacies over accusations that they overcharged customers and made false claims about their medical staff. The pharmacies have agreed to stop their current business practices. see Online Pharmacies Settle FTC Charges (Press Release). The settlements also prohibit the defendants from disclosing the personal information that was collected from their customers without express authorization from the customer and require that the defendants post a privacy policy.

Issue no. 163 - 9 July 2000

• EU rejects U.S. data privacy adequacy (IDG news)
  The European Parliament rejected the current system of U.S. data privacy protection, stating that it does not represent the level of protection required by European legislation because the system of "safe harbor" principles is not yet in place in the U.S.

• USA - Giving Consumers Access to Personal Data (New York Times)
  One online privacy principle has received scant air time recently: giving consumers access to the data collected on them. Still, recent steps within the industry suggest that some companies are heeding the call for access.

• P3P: Green light for online privacy? (ZDNet.uk)
  A new technology known as the Platform for Privacy Preferences, or P3P has been developed by several companies and privacy advocates in conjunction with the standards-setting World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The technology will alert surfers whenever they encounter Web sites that seek to collect more data than the user wants to share. see also A programming language for privacy and Critics say P3P doesn't amount to much (SF Gate).

Issue no. 162 - 2 July 2000

• Failed dot-coms may be selling your private information (CNET News)
  At least three companies that have recently failed, Boo.com, Toysmart and CraftShop.com, have either sold or are trying to sell highly sought-after customer data that could include information such as phone and credit card numbers, home addresses, and even statistics on shopping habits.

• Mattel removes software feature over privacy concerns (AP)
  In response to public complaints about privacy, Mattel Interactive announced the company would provide a tool that removes software that was surreptitiously placed on customers' computers and is designed to transmit and receive information for Mattel.

• USA - Feds' Hands Caught in Cookie Jar (Wired)
  Federal agencies are ignoring stern White House instructions not to use cookies on government websites. Dozens of U.S. government sites, including ones operated by the Justice Department, the Defense Department, and the Energy Department continue sending cookies to the computers of unsuspecting visitors. see also How Congressional Cookies Crumble

Issue no. 161 - 25 June 2000

• Drug Office Ends Web Tracking (New York Times)
  The White House conceded that it might have violated federal privacy guidelines, and it ordered its Office of National Drug Control Policy to stop using a software device that tracks computer users who view the government's antidrug advertisements on the Internet.

• New Technology Is Aimed at Increasing Web Privacy (New York Times)
  Major Internet companies and the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, the Web's standard-setting body, unveiled the Platform for Privacy Preferences, or P3P, some long-awaited technology that would alert computer users before they visited Web sites that collect more personal information than they are willing to share. see also Microsoft embraces tool to boost Web privacy (CNET News.com), Pretty Poor Privacy: An Assessment of P3P and Internet Privacy (EPIC / Junkbusters).

• Policing the Internet (Intelligent Enterprise)
  Bowing to protests from privacy groups, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued a statement clarifying the scope of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for an automated Internet search system.

• EU - Safe Harbor : la Commission européenne sous pression (Nouvel Observateur)
  La Commission des libertés du Parlement européen a réclamé une révision complète de l'accord Safe Harbor conclu par Bruxelles et Washington. L'élément nouveau est l'extrême sévérité avec laquelle les députés renvoient la Commission à ses chères études.

• Another Industry Group Tackles Online Privacy Problem (New York Times)
  A coalition of high-tech executives and advertising and marketing groups launched yet another effort to try fixing some of the problems on their own. In full-page newspaper advertisements, the more than 20 companies and groups vowed to work closely with consumers to find privacy solutions that really work. (in the same article: Online Crime Summit and Training Sessions Held; see also Reno Asks Cybercrime Victims to Help Government)

Issue no. 160 - 17 June 2000

• FTC, Online Ad Firms Haggle Over Privacy (The Standard)
  A group of internet ad-server companies is holding secret talks with the FTC and the commerce department about a set of self-imposed privacy standards for the online-advertising industry in lieu of new privacy legislation.

• The Role of Technology in Facilitating On-Line Privacy (JRC)
  One day Workshop, Centre Albert Borchette, Brussels 17th May 2000. Background Report, Workshop Results. see also The Privacy Hub

Issue no. 159 - 11 June 2000

• U.S.-E.U. Data Privacy Deal Near (AP)
  Despite protests from consumer rights advocates, the European Union has endorsed a data privacy pact with the United States that critics fear will erode legal protections many Europeans now enjoy. Consumer advocates worry, though, that "safe harbor" is a sellout to corporate interests. see also Statement by The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) and EU-US Move Forward on Safe Harbor (EPIC)

• USA - Bank Groups Unveil Privacy Guidelines (Newsbytes)
  A triumvirate of banking industry groups unveiled privacy guidelines that will bolster consumer confidence, clarify "appropriate" uses of personal information and give banks a baseline set of standards under which to operate.

Issue no. 158 - 4 June 2000

• Barnesandnoble.com exposes customer's information (CNET News.com)
  A New Jersey man trying to key in a coupon code at Barnesandnoble.com found himself in another customer's account with access to that person's personal information.

• European Union Approves Data Privacy Accord (AP)
  European Union nations have approved a new data-privacy accord with the United States, and the deal is expected to be completed by early July.

• Germany - Teleservices Data Protection (BMWi)
  Suggested amendments to the "Teleservices Data Protection Act" (TDDSG). The amendments are designed to clarify certain concepts (such as what is "personal data" in the online context), and remove some inconsistencies in the Act which were recently pointed out in a government report. Novelle des Teledienstedatenschutzgesetzes ( TDDSGÄndG), siehe auch Diskussionsentwurf.

• Canada - Ottawa breaks up 'Big Brother' database (CBC News)
  The federal database that some MPs have called "Big Brother" is being dismantled. The system keeps track of hundreds of bits of data. The Privacy Commissioner had said he was concerned about what could happen if the files fell into the wrong hands. see also HRDC Dismantles Longitudinal Labour Force File Databank (Press Release).

• UK - Data Protection Commissioner stops rogue faxes (out-law)
  The Data Protection Commissioner has issued enforcement notices against two companies, 'Second Telecom Limited' and 'Top 20 Limited' who were sending unsolicited faxes in breach of new regulations. Hundreds of complaints were received by the Commissioner from people who received this unwanted marketing material.

• USA - The Web Is Watching You (Reuters)
  In a report released by the Federal Trade Commission, the agency concludes that "Web sites collect a vast amount of personal information from and about consumers." see also New Tracking Tools Make Watching Easier

Issue no. 157 - 28 May 2000

• Free gift could entice children into revealing personal family information online (Press Release)
  While parents are struggling to reconcile their fear that the internet could harm their kids with the feeling that their kids need the Web for its educational value, a new study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center reveals that many kids say it is OK to reveal sensitive family information on the Web when enticed with the offer of a free gift.

• FTC gives up on Net self-regulation (ZDNN)
  Finding Internet privacy to be sorely lacking, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission released Privacy Online: Fair Information Practices in the Electronic Marketplace, a 200-page report recommending to Congress that new legislation be adopted to protect consumers' privacy online. The FTC, citing the fact that only 20 percent of sites with 39,000 or more unique visitors a month protect consumers' privacy, said this was proof positive that the industry's calls for self-regulation are not working. see also FTC Recommends Congressional Action To Protect Consumer Privacy Online (Press Release), Senate Democrats to introduce Web privacy bill (InfoWorld) and White House and Agency Split on Internet Privacy (New York Times).

• EU - Opinion 4/2000 on the level of protection provided by the "Safe Harbor Principles" (Data Protection Working Party)
  Document adopted on 16th May 2000.

Issue no. 156 - 20 May 2000

• Court of Appeal upholds BSC decision on corporate privacy (Courts service)
  In R v Broadcasting Standards Commission ex p. British Broadcasting Corporation, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and restored the adjudication of the BSC. The BSC decision upheld a complaint by Dixons, the retail chain, that secret filming by the BBC was an unwarranted infringement of Dixons' privacy in connection with the obtaining of material included in a BBC programme. The BBC had contended that a company cannot enjoy a right to privacy, and that privacy cannot apply to the filming of events in the place to which the public has access.

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