The FTC is seeking public comment on its proposed Agreement with Google regarding Google Buzz, and EPIC wants your voice to be heard! Use the form below to help build your comments. EPIC will send your comments and information to the FTC and use them to help us write our own comprehensive recommendations to the FTC.
On Election Day, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division will deploy more than 400 federal observers to monitor polls in 18 states. Staff at the Civil Rights Division will be available to take complaints regarding problems with voters accessing the polls throughout Election Day at 1-800-253-3931 (TTY line 1-877-277-8971). Complaints may also be filed on line at the Department's website. For more information regarding the Civil Rights Division's role in protecting voting rights, see http://www.justice.gov/crt/voting/.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center released the 2010 update to its "E-Deceptive Campaign Practices: Technology and Democracy 2.0" report, first published in 2008. The report reviews the potential for abuse of Internet-based technology in the election context, and makes recommendations on steps that should be taken by Election Administrators, voters, and those involved in Election Protection efforts. E-Deceptive campaigns are internet-based attempts to misdirect targeted voters regarding the voting process, and include false statements about poll place hours, election dates, voter identification rules, or voter eligibility requirements. For more information, see EPIC: Voting.
EPIC, joined by the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and the Liberty Coalition launched the Privacy 2010 campaign at a press conference today on Capitol Hill. The organizations set out a Privacy Platform with recommended positions on 10 key privacy issues. Privacy 2010 also has a Facebook Cause page. As part of the Privacy 2010 campaign, EPIC said that it will release a Privacy Report Card for the Obama administration with grades on medical privacy, cyber security, consumer privacy, and civil liberties.
As a result of an ongoing investigation into online privacy, the Wall Street Journal has found evidence that the 50 top websites directed toward children placed 30% more tracking cookies on those sites than the 50 top websites directed toward adults. Google placed the most cookies of the companies investigated. Many of the other popular sites are small companies with widely varying privacy polices. Two sites directed toward teens have sold the information gathered about the users and at least one other site has ties to a pornography site. The dependence by these sites on advertising accounts for the significant amount of tracking technology used. Even though many of the sites claimed not to collect personally identifying information, at least one required an email address to register on the site. There are federal regulations requiring parental consent to collect personally identifying information from minors under the age of 13. The Federal Trade Commission is currently considering whether changes to the law should be made.
On the Web, Children Face Intensive Tracking, Steve Stecklow, wsj.com, September 17, 2010
The Help America Vote Act requires states to verify the identities of first time voters by inspecting a current and valid photo identification, copy of a utility bill, paycheck or other government issued document that shows the address and name of the voter. The Georgia Voter Verification Program exceeds that mandate by requiring proof of citizenship. The DOJ twice declined to preclear Georgia's proposal. In 2009 the DOJ found the proposed procedures to be "seriously flawed." In February 2010, the DOJ again concluded that Georgia had not carried its burden of showing that the verification procedures would not have a discriminatory purpose or discriminatory effect. In July 2010, GA sought a declaratory judgment from the DC Circuit. In August, the DOJ dropped its objection without public explanation or opportunity for intervenors to be heard.
Georgia Allowed To Continue Voter Verification, Kathy Lohr, npr.org, September 14, 2010
A class action lawsuit has been filed in California federal District Court against Ringleader Digital. The New York based advertising agency uses HTML5 database storage to tracks Mobile Safari users. The lawsuit takes aim at the persistent monitoring of users, without their consent, across webpages. Unlike cookies, the HTML5 database storage cannot be deleted from the user's mobile device. Companies using Ringleader's Media Stamp technology include Surfline, WhitePages.com, The Travel Channel, CNN Money, Go2 and Merriam-Webster's dictionary site. These companies are also named as defendants in the suit.
Lawsuit Targets Mobile Advertiser Over Sneaky HTML5 Pseudo-Cookies, David Kravets, wired.com, September 16, 2010
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