The LA Times ran an excellent story on the problem with spam and with the solutions to tackle the issue. The Cato Institute recently hosted a forum on the subject as well with representatives from the FTC, EPIC, Truste, and the Direct Marketers Association. Spam is a growing problem and presents a number of novel technical and policy challenges to combat the scourge successfully.
State Spam Laws Rarely Enforced, LA Times, April 1, 2002.
The Spam Wars: What Can Be Done about the Annoying, Unsolicited E-mail That Is Driving Us Crazy?, Cato Policy Forum, March 27, 2002.
Spam Laws web site run by law professor David Sorkin that tracks Spam legislation.
In what has become a trend among profitable large internet companies, Yahoo announced that it is reseting consumer privacy preferences so that they can market their personal information, including selling telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to telemarketers and other marketing firms. Consumers will have 60 days to overturn Yahoo's preferences. There has been widespread protest from consumers regarding this change.
Yahoo's Updated Policy.
Yahoo! sneaks in yet more spam, MSNBC, March 29, 2002.
Yahoo's 'Opt-Out' Angers UsersWired News, April 2, 2002.
EPIC has succeeded in its effort to compel the FBI to conduct a more complete search for documents concerning the Carnivore Internet surveillance system. U.S. District Judge James Robertson issued an order on March 25 in EPIC's FOIA lawsuit directing the Bureau to initiate a new search for responsive documents. The search must be conducted in the FBI's offices of General Counsel and Congressional & Public Affairs, and be completed no later than May 24, 2002.
Court Order.
EPIC's Carnivore FOIA page.
FBI to divulge more Carnivore details, CNET News, March 27, 2002.
Internet sites appear to be collecting less personal
information from consumers and doing a slightly better job
explaining how Web sites use such sensitive data, according to a
survey by an opponent of new privacy laws.
The Progress and Freedom Foundation, a Washington think tank, said
Wednesday that its survey of 300 Web sites picked at random and 85
more of the Internet's most-popular sites showed about eight in 10
of the most-popular collected personal information from consumers
other than e-mail addresses. A similar study in 2000 showed a higher
number. The study suggests that firms are responding to consumer concerns and that
they may also have overestimated the economic
value of collecting personal information.
Progress & Freedom Foundation Report (pdf).
Survey: Web Sites Collect Less Data, Associated Press, March 27, 2002
Survey: Internet Users Have More Contol Over How Data Is Used Washington Post, March 27, 2002.
FTC Report from May 2000.
A New York district court has announced a proposed settlement in litigation concerning Doubleclick, the company that sought to secretly profile Internet users. The settlement would affect all Internet users who "had Doubleclick cookies placed upon their computers or browsers between Jan 1, 1996 and March 28, 2002." The agreement will, among other things, require future DoubleClick cookies to expire within 5 years, two years after the typical user has changed computers. DoubleClick has also agreed to give consumers clear notice and choice of any data-collection practices within its
privacy policy. Among other provisions, the settlement requires
DoubleClick to obtain permission from consumers before combining
any personally identifiable data with Web surfing history.
Proposed Settlement.
DoubleClick nearing privacy settlements, CNET News, Mar. 29, 2002.
