Last week we posted about the fast approaching May 26 deadline for member state implementation of the EU’s revised Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive concerning cookies on web sites. We noted the relative absence of final (if any) guidance from EU jurisdictions on the approach to be taken in their respective implementations. On Monday, the UK’s privacy regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (commonly called the ICO), provided some official guidance. As expected, the official advice confirms the strict position set
March Madness or a Sign of Times to Come? Google’s Proposed Consent Agreement with Federal Trade Commission
Google has consented to the entry of a proposed Agreement Containing Consent Order with the US Federal Trade Commission, subjecting the company to sweeping government oversight of its privacy disclosure and product development and release practices, nominally arising out of the roll-out of its Buzz product in February 2010. The auditing and reporting requirements are staggering in scope, breadth and duration, reaching Google’s entire business, not merely online communication products such as Gmail. One interpretation of the (rather amazing) document
Happy Data Privacy Day – The Importance of Raising Awareness
It seems fitting that on Data Privacy Day, a day designed to raise awareness of privacy issues (and not, as reported by Wikipedia, an international public holiday), we touch on the issue of “transparency” e.g. how to ensure individuals understand how their data is being processed. The EDPS, in its 14th January Opinion, describes transparency of processing as being of paramount importance for individuals, because only “if individuals know about data processing, can they exercise their rights”.
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Five Useful Provisions for Your Web Site Terms of Use
We are often asked to review web site terms of use. Here are five provisions that often seem to be missing in action (in no particular order):
No Scraping
With automated screen scraping tools readily available, this data harvesting technique presents issues for websites that allow users to search for data. Even if you aren’t troubled that others may obtain mass access to the data, you may want to prohibit such activity simply to avoid the performance