backtop

Print 14 comment(s) - last by hexxthalion.. on Jul 12 at 10:08 AM

  (Source: blogspot.com)
Google was charged with bypassing Apple Safari user privacy settings in order to track those who had previously blocked that type of tracking

Google may have to pay the largest fine ever given by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a privacy settlement regarding Apple's Safari users.

Google, which invaded the privacy settings of users of Apple's Safari browser, could pay as much as $22.5 million to the FTC for its actions.

Google was charged with bypassing Apple Safari user privacy settings in order to track those who had previously blocked that type of tracking. Google used special computer code, or cookies, to do so.

The Wall Street Journal ended up outing Google for placing ad-tracking cookies on Safari users. These third-party cookies are used to track what users are doing on the Internet, which in turn helps Web giants like Google target users with suitable advertisements.

Google was able to successfully get past Safari's browser settings for privacy, which attempts to block certain types of cookies. Safari accepts first-party cookies (the Web site the user is on) or second-party cookies (the user's browser), but blocks third-party cookies, which links the browser to an entirely different Web site. The mobile version of Safari, which can be found on iOS devices, has the ability to block all cookies or none at all.

After Google's actions were discovered, Microsoft found that the Android/search giant was doing the same thing with Internet Explorer users. Microsoft suggested that IE9 users use a feature called Tracking Protection.

Google responded to the charges by saying that the tracking was unintentional, and that no harm came from the company's inadvertent actions.

"The FTC is focused on a 2009 help center page," said Google. "We have now changed that page and taken steps to remove the ad cookies."

Source: Reuters


Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: this just in
By NellyFromMA on 7/10/2012 1:58:47 PM , Rating: 2
Well, ya. Google practically survives solely on providing excellent search and violating your expected privacy to generate profits to fund said infrastructure via targetted ads.

That is essentially their entire (profitable) business model. The only thing that has changes is that they largely try to redefine what is 'expected privacy' by eroding the accepted status quo of what you can expect for privacy in this day and age.

By doing so, that is more profit for them. In this way, Google can never REALLY maximize profits by advocating for your privacy. This is why I do not prefer Google for anything other than search, and with my protected mode on at that.


"Intel is investing heavily (think gazillions of dollars and bazillions of engineering man hours) in resources to create an Intel host controllers spec in order to speed time to market of the USB 3.0 technology." -- Intel blogger Nick Knupffer











botimage
Copyright 2013 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki