federal-trade

Breaking Down the New FTC Endorsement and Testimonial Rules in Layman’s Terms

Over the last several months, I’ve had numerous individuals e-mail me complaining they didn’t fully understand the new FTC Endorsement and Testimonial Rules, and how it applied to them. That’s not surprising, since government rules and regulations at both the state and federal level are notorious for not being written in layman’s term. With that in mind, I decided to write an article about the new FTC rules in language I’m sure everyone can understand. Let’s get started: On December 1, 2009, new FTC regulations that govern the use of endorsements and testimonials to promote products went into effect. FTC  regulations now require all endorsements to disclose any “material connection” between the vendor and the advertiser. For example, suppose you are an affiliate marketer who owns a website that provides reviews of products that you promote. If your reviews about those products are favorable, by law, you must disclose the fact that you are receiving a commission from the sale of those products. These new rules apply even if you receive a free or complimentary product and are asked to review it

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Breaking Down the New FTC Endorsement and Testimonial Rules in Layman’s Terms

federal-trade

Google inches closer to Wi-Fi data handover

With its 27 May deadline come and gone, Google has released a statement saying it is “close” to an information handover to appease the Hamburg Information Commissioner, an office of the German government. The company has admitted to acquiring information about unprotected wireless networks in many parts of the world - which it maintains was accidental - through its extensive Google Street View project, which saw cars and bicycles being employed to photograph local street scenes. The search company did offer one of its vehicles for inspection, and answered enquiries by the privacy protection body in time for the deadline. The data exchange did not take place on 27 May, however, as Google said it feared it would be in breach of German telecommunications law. Johannes Caspar of the HIC office said the claim would be a non-issue.

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Google inches closer to Wi-Fi data handover

federal-trade

Facebook privacy blunders to be investigated by FTC

Social networking giant Facebook has faced more criticism over its latest privacy lapse, which exposed some users’ private conversations to other people in their network. 15 organisations in the United States have banded together to file a complaint against the site with the Federal Trade Commission, as well as issuing a letter to Congress asking legislators to monitor the FTC’s progress. TechCrunch reported that the latest glitch occurred on Wednesday, when some users found they were able to change their profile settings in order to view their friends’ private chats and pending friend requests. A Facebook spokesperson said: “We worked quickly to resolve this matter, ensuring that once the bug was reported to us, a solution was quickly found and implemented.” But a quick fix may not be enough to tackle the larger issues of security, according to some privacy regulators who believe Facebook’s continuing dominance of the social web puts users at greater risk. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre, said: “Our view is that the FTC needs to act on consumer concerns about Facebook’s sloppy privacy and security practices.” This privacy group was one of the companies that wrote to Congress in a letter that stated: “Facebook continues to manipulate the privacy settings of users and its own privacy policy so that it can take personal information provided by users for a limited purpose and make it widely available for commercial purposes. “The company has done this repeatedly, and users are becoming increasingly angry and frustrated.” The social network has also been criticised for its new features, allowing third party websites to incorporate a ‘Like’ button so Facebook users can more easily share their tastes in everything from music to fashion with others in their social network. Facebook’s privacy headaches may be never-ending, but the company insists it treats such issues with the utmost importance

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Facebook privacy blunders to be investigated by FTC

federal-trade

First Click Free to solve issues surrounding web tracking?

Web tracking and privacy has always been a hot topic and now the Federal Trade Commission is due to launch new guidelines that recommend companies tell consumers more clearly about what data they capture and how it is used. And it’s been proposed that a uniformed link or clickable icon be developed to take consumers from a website or ad to a disclosure page. While here at big mouth media we agree that this is an effective approach, we wonder whether it will be clear enough for all web users to understand what data is being captured.

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First Click Free to solve issues surrounding web tracking?