Category Archives: Best Practices

The privacyscore launch: what we’ve learned so far and the road ahead

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Jim Brock

We launched privacyscore.com on Monday. The amount of positive press attention was gratifying (New York Times, Wired.com, ZDNet, Huffington Post, Time.com, The Telegraph, Daily Mail and others ), as was the number of visits and downloads. Here’s what we learned and … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, Folks, Privacy Policies, privacyscore, Pros | Leave a comment

Developer Alert: Does your app upload contact or other personal data?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Jim Brock

In the wake of the Path privacy issues, Apple confirmed today what was already clear based on their privacy policies: Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines. We’re … Continue reading →

Posted in App Stores and Markets, Best Practices, mobile, Privacy Policies, Pros | Leave a comment

Making privacy measurable (and easier) with privacyscores

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Jim Brock

Today we launched our most important and ambitious project: privacyscore.com. In it we are applying analytic methods to measure privacy risk across more than a thousand websites. We’re doing it to help solve a big problem for web users: how … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, Privacy Policies, privacyscore, Pros, Self-Regulation, Website Disclosure | 4 Comments

Do Not Track: Advice for early adopters

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Jim Brock

While the W3C working group continues to hammer out specifications for the Do Not Track header, it’s good to see a few tracking companies already moving ahead with their own implementations. Here are two key points for companies adopting the … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, Do Not Track, Opt Out Cookies, Pros | 1 Comment

So this is what a privacy audit looks like

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Jim Brock

2011 may be remembered as the year of the Big Privacy Audit, with the Federal Trade Commission using consent decree powers to commit both Facebook and Google to decades of regular third-party oversight and reporting on privacy. You may not … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, Facebook, Oversight, Pros, Social Network Privacy | 2 Comments

The FTC’s Seven Opt-out Rules:
A must-read for tracking companies

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Jim Brock

The Federal Trade Commission’s recently finalized settlement with ScanScout is ostensibly about the use of Flash cookies, which led to the enforcement action. But as is often the case, the consent decree also outlines requirements that provide all companies, not just … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, Opt Out Cookies, Pros | 1 Comment

Rules of the Road: Best Privacy Practices for Developers from the CDT and FPF

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Jim Brock

The Center for Democracy and Technology and the Future of Privacy Forum have published an important new resource that brings together the best practical privacy advice for mobile developers. This is an important step forward in establishing widely accepted “rules … Continue reading →

Posted in App Stores and Markets, Best Practices, mobile, Pros | Leave a comment

Yet another (better) definition of sensitive boundaries for ad targeting

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Jim Brock

The concept of “sensitive” categories pervades the policy structures governing online ad targeting; there is a sense that certain online activities are “out of bounds” when it comes to behavioral advertising. Both the Network Advertising Initiative and the Digital Advertising … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, DAA, Google, NAI, Pros, Self-Regulation | 5 Comments

Windows Store has strong privacy disclosure requirements for app developers

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Jim Brock

Windows Store, which is Microsoft’s upcoming app store for Windows 8 applications, contains one of the strongest app privacy policy that we have seen so far in compiling our comprehensive guide to app-store privacy requirements. Microsoft’s Developer Agreement says: If … Continue reading →

Posted in App Stores and Markets, Best Practices, Microsoft, Privacy Policies, Pros | Leave a comment

Developer Alert: Flash cookies and LSOs require precise disclosure

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Jim Brock

If you use anything but standard browser cookies to identify unique your users or their devices, you should be aware of the latest privacy enforcement action from the FTC. The FTC brought action against ScoutScan, an ad network, for inaccurate … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Practices, Flash Cookies and LSOs, Pros | Leave a comment