Officials in Europe and the United States are responding to Internet users’ desires to disable ad tracking, but they’re taking two different approaches. European regulators are interesting in passing strict online privacy statutes, whereas the U.S. government and tech industry seem keen to keep online privacy regulations to a minimum. What Is Online Tracking And Why Do People Argue It Invades Privacy? The ability of ad companies to track users’ behavior while online is behavioral marketing. Tracking is accomplished through the use of “cookies.” Cookies are small pieces of data saved on a users’ computer. They have the ability to record which links you click and what sites the you visit while on the Internet. Basically, targeted advertising enables a company to place their ads in view of an online…

Online privacy lawyers are busy these days, as Internet privacy issues seem to be all anybody can talk about. The Internet facilitates a free flowing exchange of information, but it also presents challenges. How can you keep medical records, financial data, even information about sexual orientation, out of the hands of identity thieves? In reaction to this concern, governments and regulators have attempted to set policies that protect the public without curbing freedom. The Safe Harbor Act is one such policy recommendation. Safe Harbor Act Is All About Privacy In response to strict European Union privacy laws, the U.S. Department of Commerce negotiated a set of seven principles that U.S. companies could comply in order to be granted “safe harbor” status under the European Union Data Protection Directive. When American…

What You Need to Know about Online Privacy Laws Whether you use it to read email, listen to music, track your child’s progress at school, shop, read, or job hunt, the Internet is a useful tool that touches nearly every part of contemporary life. However, there are privacy risks associated with Internet use. Although you may think that such risks are outweighed by the convenience of seamless online access, in order to make that assessment, you need to know what’s at stake and how online privacy laws may or may not protect you. When you are online, you provide personal information to others at almost every step of the way.  Your online privacy risks range from the gathering of statistical data about your Internet use, to the spread of largely…

Your website is designed and you’re ready to unleash it to the world. So now you may be thinking, “should I have an attorney draft up a user agreement?” It’s a standard inquiry with a complex answer, but the best short reply is, “Yes, if you want to cover your butt and optimize your site.” Besides, if you operate an online marketplace or a website that caters to children, user agreements are essential. What Are Online Privacy Policies? The number of phrases in the English language for “online user agreements” or “online privacy policies” rivals the number of words Eskimos have for snow. Terms of services, privacy statements and acceptable use policies are all considered user agreements. No matter what it’s called, they’re the stipulations a user agrees to when…

Al Franken (D-MN) is really assuming a take no prisoners’ stance in his new role as chairman of the Senate Sub Committee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. Over the past several months, Franken has hauled Apple and Google in for government hearings and pestered the megatechs with inquiry letters. Last week, the sophomore senator unveiled his latest offensive, the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is cosponsoring the bill, which endeavors to establish strict permission standards for mobile location tracking devices and software. Franken’s and Blumethal’s legislation only applies to operations and corporations that collect data from more than 5,000 devices, and calls for increased data security measures, instantaneous data deletion mechanisms, and clear opt-in notices. Back in the 1980s when video rentals were the hot…