InfoAnda - Web giants' consumer privacy strategy faces hard sell |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Smokes now tax-free for foreign diplomats in US | 29 January 2009
Car bomb kills 20 in Pakistan after Taliban threat | 8 September 2010
BlackBerry in bid to address Saudi security concerns | 9 August 2010

Shin-Soo Choo says DUI charge hurting his play | 6 June 2011

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Web giants' consumer privacy strategy faces hard sell |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (1) REUTERS TV TECH TONIC Should you upgrade to the new iPad? Apple's new iPad will be released March 16 but if you own an iPad 2 or the original, is it worth upgrading? Anthony De Rosa goes through all the new features, which include a retina display, 4G LTE capabilities, a faster processor and a better camera. Video Apple unveils newest iPad Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Los Angeles readies for a ''Levitating Mass'' 09 Mar 2012 Flight attendant on plane rants about crashing 09 Mar 2012 Some papers may reject 'Doonesbury' abortion strip 09 Mar 2012 Banks foreclosing on churches in record numbers 09 Mar 2012 U.S. defends treated meat dubbed "pink slime" in school meals 09 Mar 2012 Discussed 158 Obama warns against ”loose talk” of war on Iran 139 Israel asks U.S. for arms that could aid Iran strike 105 Three Occupy Oakland protesters charged with hate crimes Watched Turkish soap operas ignite culture war in Middle East revolution – Decoder Thu, Mar 8 2012 U.S. Navy kicks off rail gun tests with a bang Tue, Feb 28 2012 Japan's year of struggle, in 60 seconds Fri, Mar 9 2012 Web giants' consumer privacy strategy faces hard sell Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Exclusive: Google leans on developers to use payment service Fri, Mar 9 2012 Search engine users disapprove of data collection: survey Fri, Mar 9 2012 Yelp soars in market debut on Facebook optimism Fri, Mar 2 2012 Zynga seeks own game space away from Facebook Thu, Mar 1 2012 What you should know about Twitter's data sales Thu, Mar 1 2012 Analysis & Opinion Why the micropayments business model matters A hidden Gulf economy, Romney’s old taxes, and patent wars Related Topics Tech » Media » iPad » A security personnel answers a call at the reception counter of the Google office in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad February 6, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Krishnendu Halder By Jasmin Melvin WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:03am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Emboldened by their victory in quashing online piracy legislation, U.S. Internet companies are gearing up for a battle over whether consumers should be able to restrict efforts to gather personal data. Google Inc, Facebook, Apple Inc and other tech companies have lobbied against congressional and federal agency proposals that would let Internet users press "do not track" buttons on their browsers to block targeted advertising. Consumers could also edit personal information that has been stored about them. With the privacy issue, the multibillion-dollar Internet industry faces a challenge larger than potentially harmful legislation or regulations that could limit their advertising and corporate growth. Their efforts to self-regulate continue to suffer setbacks amidst accusations of privacy violations and last year's Federal Trade Commission findings that Facebook and Google engaged in deceptive privacy practices. The FTC is expected to issue new privacy recommendations in the coming days, and companies are watching several legislative proposals on Capitol Hill. Privacy advocates are pushing to give consumers greater control over data collection. The companies must convince consumers that they benefit by allowing personal data to be collected and shared. Their pitch - in efforts like Google's current "Good to Know" advertising campaign - argues that data collection lets companies offer faster, smarter products, like better search results and customized mapping. Internet companies successfully fought legislation to limit Internet piracy. Medley Global Advisors analyst Jeffrey Silva said Web companies may feel confident that they can tackle other government intervention. "I think the lesson they've learned is if they don't like a certain bill, they can organize and create a lot of static and pushback," Silva said. A MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS Internet data collection allows advertisers to target users in a demographic who are more likely to buy their product. These ads often subsidize Web content. Google, for example, has come under fire for a new policy that took effect March 1 that treats information from most of its products, including Gmail, YouTube and Google+, as a single trove of data for advertisers. Google contends the change will benefit customers. The company would be able to spot a signed-on user looking for recipes and seamlessly direct them to YouTube cooking videos. "When we talk about how the Internet will improve and grow for consumers, that's coming from online behavioral advertising," said Daniel Castro, senior analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Strict privacy rules could lead to substantial cuts in online advertising dollars and an even larger hit to growth over the next five to 10 years, Castro said. A 2010 study by University of Toronto professor Avi Goldfarb and MIT professor Catherine Tucker revealed a 65 percent decrease in ad effectiveness after European countries implemented data collection rules for targeted advertising. Around 96 percent of Google's $37.9 billion revenue comes from advertising, financial statements showed. Filings ahead of Facebook's much-discussed initial public offering revealed 85 percent of its $3.71 billion in revenue last year came from advertising. Nearly two-thirds of Apple's fiscal year 2011 net sales came from its iPhone, iPad and related products and services that rely on tracking a user's exact location. New government data collection policies could have huge implications. "If Google got 65 percent less revenue than it got last year, that would be a big upset to a company like that," Castro said. MULTI-PRONGED ATTACK The industry got a break last month when the White House released a blueprint "privacy bill of rights" giving consumers more data control, but relying heavily on voluntary compliance by Internet companies. The FTC's expected recommendations are causing more anxiety. Analysts and privacy advocates predict that the FTC report will have more teeth, in part because FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz recently described Google's new privacy policy as a "somewhat brutal choice" for consumers. The FTC report may call for strict enforcement to ensure firms adhere to their privacy policies, according to sources familiar with the agency's thinking. It may also try to accelerate firms' adoption of the "do not track" technology, which could work like the "do not call" registry that caused telemarketing industry havoc. Silva said the FTC recommendations come from "people that live and breathe privacy policy and have a greater knowledge of the law, companies' practices and an institutional knowledge of what's happened before. They probably have a better feel for the degree to which self-regulation works or doesn't." As for legislation, numerous privacy bills are winding their way through Congress. A notable one is a bipartisan privacy framework from Senators John Kerry and John McCain. It would require companies to reassess their privacy practices for both personally identifiable information and online behavioral advertising profiles. Critics say it could force more companies to start charging for services like e-mail, social networks and other content currently subsidized by advertising. "I'm talking about American companies having rules that control their own destiny, before Europe or other trading partners impose their policies on all our companies," Kerry said. "Hell, establishing minimum privacy protections in law can help build consumer trust in the marketplace and in turn increase economic activity." Tech companies have argued that government regulations could cut its revenues, reduce job growth and hurt the broader economy. Lawmakers are looking for the "sweet spot" between too much regulation and none at all, Representative Mary Bono Mack, chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee on commerce, manufacturing and trade, said. "Any knee-jerk reactions could have a chilling impact on innovation and e-commerce in the United States and threaten our economic recovery," she said. WEB FIRMS' FOOTHOLD Internet companies are well-positioned in Washington to push back against regulatory proposals. With the piracy debate, they came together to argue that bills designed to shut down access to overseas websites trafficking in stolen content or counterfeit goods were too broad. They argued that they could undermine innovation and free speech and compromise the Internet's functioning. What followed was an unprecedented online protest that saw Wikipedia and other sites go dark while bigger players like Google and Facebook displayed censorship bars and arguments against the bills on their sites. The effort was supported with 3.9 million tweets, 2,000 people a second trying to call their elected representatives and more than 5,000 people a minute signing petitions opposing the legislation. Privacy regulations are a harder sell, said privacy expert Amy Mushahwar, an attorney with Reed Smith. "Consumers might not be able to immediately recognize that increased privacy obligations could lead to a lesser amount of content on the Web, which is really what the advertising industry is concerned about," said Mushahwar, a registered lobbyist for the Association of National Advertisers. Internet companies have tried to get ahead of mandatory reforms by adopting their own policies. The Digital Advertising Alliance rolled out new data collection principles that take effect this year. They explicitly prohibit collection and use of a person's Internet surfing data for determining their eligibility for employment, credit, insurance and medical treatment. The industry is also using old-school lobbying tactics. It has ramped up its political activities dramatically, spending $1.2 billion between 1998 and 2011. Google spent $9.68 million and Microsoft Corp $7.34 million on federal lobbying in 2011, according to lobbying disclosure reports. Facebook, a latecomer to Washington, has beefed up its lobbying team, adding Joel Kaplan, former deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, and Myriah Jordan, also a Bush aide and former general counsel to Republican Senator Richard Burr. Facebook's lobbying expenditures skyrocketed from $351,000 in 2010 to $1.35 million in 2011, reports show. Winning lawmaker support is only part of the battle. The sector also may benefit from the views of average people, said Linda Woolley, executive vice president of government affairs at the Direct Marketing Association. Despite recent controversies over Google's privacy policies, "you didn't hear of people cancelling their Gmail accounts." "From where I sit, I do not see hordes of Americans running to Capitol Hill saying we need to do something about this," she said. (Additional reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Karey Wutkowski and Marilyn Thompson; Desking by Stacey Joyce) Tech Media iPad Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (1) Burns0011 wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Saturday, 10 March 2012
Thousands rally in Libya against autonomy for east |
Germany wants new debate on EU constitution: minister |
Analysis:Legal fees in Gulf oil spill deal stir conflict |
Cocoa smugglers on motorbikes evade Ivorian guards |
Apple to build $304 million campus in Texas, add 3,600 jobs |
Search engine users disapprove of data collection: survey |
Hacker combined online attacks with petty crime |
Quest Software to go private in $2 billion deal |
Search engine users disapprove of data collection: survey |
Disney space movie tests big-budget film strategy |
''Salmon Fishing'' film makes impossible seem possible |
Oldest film based on Dickens found in Britain |
Afghan officials visit Guantanamo in peace bid |
Annan in Syria to press Assad for ceasefire |
Thousands rally in Libya against autonomy for east |
Yemen air raids kill 10 suspected Qaeda militants |
Afghanistan and U.S. sign prison transfer deal |
Slovak left poised to win election, sink reformists |
Italy condemns botched British raid in Nigeria |
Chinese police shoot dead 4 in raid in Xinjiang: report |
Israel kills 10 Palestinian militants in Gaza strikes |
Cocoa smugglers on motorbikes evade Ivorian guards |
Apple's new iPad making waves in video game market |
Web giants' consumer privacy strategy faces hard sell |
Billboard names Taylor Swift big money maker of 2012 |
Whitney Houston sought love in wrong places: relative |
Sarah Palin dismisses ''Game Change'' as unimportant |
''Kony 2012'' director answers critics of video |
Dennis Quaid's wife files for divorce |
Author defends Doonesbury abortion strip |
Japan mourns tsunami dead; grapples with unfinished business |
Taliban Guantanamo detainees agree to Qatar transfer: official |
Israel kills four more Gaza gunmen, rockets hit Israel |
Smaller crowds challenge Putin after Russia poll |
Bahrain says will hold dialogue to end crisis soon |
Nigeria hostages killed in bathroom during rescue: witness |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01