Category Archives: Legal: Privacy

German Court Says Google Must Block Libelous Words Added Via Autocomplete Function

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Amy Gesenhues

In a surprising turn of events, Germany’s top civil court overturned two lower court rulings on a case involving Google’s autocomplete function. According to the ruling, it is Google’s responsibility to block libelous words that appea… Continue reading →

Posted in autocomplete, Channel: SEO, german court rules against google, Google Germany, Google: Business Issues, Google: General, Google: Legal, legal, Legal: General, Legal: Privacy, Top News | Leave a comment

German Privacy Regulator Fines Google Over Street View Data Collection, Calls For Tougher Financial Penalties

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Greg Sterling

A fine of 145,000 EUR (roughly $189,000) is trivial for Google. But that’s close to the maximum fine allowed by German law ($150,000 EUR). The fine is being imposed on Google for violations of German privacy and data protection laws stemming from… Continue reading →

Posted in Featured, German privacy laws, German regulators, Google, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: Outside US, Google: Privacy, Google: SpyView, Google: Street View, legal, Legal: Privacy, Legal: Regulation, privacy, Top News | Leave a comment

The Dark Side Of The Internet: A Search Engine That Finds Unsecured Routers, Servers & A Whole Lot More

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Amy Gesenhues

Developed by John Matherly, Shodan is a search engine designed to help users find certain pieces of software, determine which applications are most popular, identify anonymous FTP servers, or investigate new vulnerabilities and what hosts they could in… Continue reading →

Posted in cnn money, dan tentler, def con, insecure passwords, john matherly, Legal: Crawling & Indexing, Legal: Privacy, Legal: Security, online security flaws, online security issues, Search & Society, Search Engines, Search Engines: Meta Search Engines, Search Features: Safety, shodan | Leave a comment

It’s Official: Google Settles “WiSpy” Case For $7 Million

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Greg Sterling

As reported last week, Google has formally settled the so-called “WiSpy” case with 30 US state Attorneys General for $7 million. The agreement also contains some other non-monetary provisions that are, frankly, more meaningful. The investig… Continue reading →

Posted in Google WiSpy case, Google WiSpy settlement, Google: Android, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: SpyView, Google: Street View, Legal: Privacy | Leave a comment

Google Wins Lawsuit Over Monetizing Your Name With Ads

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Barry Schwartz

Google has won a lawsuit filed by Wisconsin woman, Beverly Stayart, over Google Instant suggestions leading to a search result set that had ads. Beverly Stayart claimed Google suggested a search query phrase for the term [Bev Stayart levitra]. When you… Continue reading →

Posted in Beverly Stayart, Google, Google: Instant, Google: Legal, lawsuit, legal, Legal: Privacy | Leave a comment

Report: Google To Settle “WiSpy” Investigation With Attorneys General For Measly $7 Million

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Greg Sterling

According to AllThingsD, Google is about to settle the so-called “WiSpy” investigation with 30 US state Attorneys Generals. Google will admit no wrongdoing and pay $7 million according to the report. The article says the settlement will b… Continue reading →

Posted in ftc, Google, google i/o, Google: Business Issues, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: Maps & Local, Google: Mobile, Google: SpyView, Google: Street View, Legal: Privacy, state attorney generals, Top News, WiFi data collection, WiSpy investigation | Leave a comment

In Another “Right to Be Forgotten” Case, UK Officials Threaten Legal Action Against People Posting Pictures Of Convicted Killer

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Greg Sterling

Although slightly different than the Spanish case discussed yesterday, the “right to be forgotten” has reared its head again — this time in the UK.” UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve has threatened legal action against anyone p… Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, Google: Legal, Google: Outside US, Jon Venables, Legal: Privacy, right to be forgotten case, search sites, social media sites, Twitter: Business Issues, UK Attorney General | Leave a comment

Privacy Vs Censorship: Google, Spanish Government Face Off In European Courts

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Greg Sterling

In a test case that could have significant implications for Google throughout Europe the company faced off against the Spanish data protection authority in the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg. One could frame the case as “pri… Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Google, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: Outside US, Google: Web Search, Legal: Censorship, Legal: Privacy, Legal: Regulation, privacy, Spain, Spanish data protection authority, Top News | Leave a comment

Wisconsin State Court OKs Bidding On Trademarks In Paid Search

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Pamela Parker

A Wisconsin appeals court this week affirmed a circuit court’s ruling that it’s OK to use trademarks as keywords to trigger the display of paid search ads. The court’s conclusions are in line with search engines’ policies with r… Continue reading →

Posted in bidding on trademarks, Google: AdWords, Legal: Privacy, Legal: Trademarks, Microsoft: Bing Ads, ppc advertising, privacy law, Search engine marketing, trademark bidding, trademarks as keywords, wisconsin | Leave a comment

New Tumblr Blog Raises Privacy Concerns Over Facebook Graph Search

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Matt McGee

That didn’t take long, did it? Tom Scott, one of the current users of Facebook Graph Search, has started a Tumblr blog to document its potential privacy train wrecks. “I just got Graph Search and it’s actually so creepy that I’v… Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, facebook graph search, Facebook: Facebook Search, Featured, Legal: Privacy, privacy concerns, privacy settings, Tom Scott, Top News, Tumblr blog | Leave a comment