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Many people believe they can say what they want on the Internet as long as they use a pseudonym. After all, it is easy to set up an account using an anonymous alter ego. In addition to believing they can post whatever they want, they may also think they are protected by the First Amendment. They m...

When companies started issuing BlackBerry phones, the world changed. With the advent of the iPhone and Android, the world changed again. Employees started using the newer, hotter technologies, and many carried the company BlackBerry and the iPhone or an Android handset but did not like carrying one ...

Even before Google launched its new privacy policy earlier this month, consolidating separate privacy policies for more than 60 applications, legal issues had surfaced. Now, attorneys general from more than 31 States have accused Google of violating privacy laws because of complaints from users that...

Many people believe they can say what they want on the Internet as long as they use a pseudonym. After all, it is easy to set up an account using an anonymous alter ego. In addition to believing they can post whatever they want, they may also think they are protected by the First Amendment. They m...

In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, state and federal governments moved to become more open, and the Internet has made the achievement of transparency even easier. Information is now available to the general public on government websites or from federal agencies in response ...

Even before Google launched its new privacy policy earlier this month, consolidating separate privacy policies for more than 60 applications, legal issues had surfaced. Now, attorneys general from more than 31 States have accused Google of violating privacy laws because of complaints from users that...

Privacy continues to be in the headlines. Companies and governments are garnering and analyzing information that they obtain through means some find questionable in unprecedented ways. Recently, I wrote a column about Carrier IQ's business of allegedly tracking cell data. Many readers use Google...

On Jan. 1, I found that these Twitter names had hordes of followers: @ladygaga had 17,554,645, @Starbucks had 1,927,255, and @noahkravitz had 24,273. If you have a Twitter account, you can easily see all of who the followers are. Having Twitter followers doesn't mean you get to keep them, though. F...

It seems that every day a new crisis hits the news about our privacy, but not many news stories are as astonishing as the recent revelation by a 25-year-old researcher about the Carrier IQ software that is installed on most modern Android, BlackBerry and Nokia phones. Carrier IQ software collects m...

Since few people bother to read Privacy Policies, Terms of Service or Click Wrap Agreements, is it any wonder that social media sites, search engines, and providers of cell services ask for and receive carte blanche rights to our whereabouts, along with other personal information? We all know that i...

As an observer of the IT and Internet industries for several decades, I watch with great amusement as new buzzwords surface for old concepts. Not too long ago, the term "cloud computing" appeared on the scene. The technology concept behind cloud computing has been around for more than 50 years, and ...

Personally Identifiable Information may include many details such as name, address, email address, phone numbers, social security numbers, credit card numbers and the like. From a technology standpoint, every visitor to every website provides some PII about who they are and where they came from. Whe...

What risks do site owners run by having poorly written Terms of Service (ToS) or Click Agreements -- or none at all? If your company offers goods or services through its website (or for that matter, if downloads or advice are offered for a cost -- or even for free), when was the last time you looked...

Apple's brand name is currently the most valuable name in the world. Google held that title for the last four years, and now Apple has finally surpassed it. The top 10 are all very familiar names: Apple, Google, IBM, McDonald's, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Marlboro, China Mobile and GE. So what'...

In 2010, Google admitted that when collecting Street View photos around the world it also collected data from unsecured wireless networks. That led to a bunch of lawsuits. Recently, U.S. Federal Judge James Ware refused to dismiss a class action lawsuit based on allegations that Google violated th...

Since few people bother to read Privacy Policies, Terms of Service or Click Wrap Agreements, is it any wonder that social media sites, search engines, and providers of cell services ask for and receive carte blanche rights to our whereabouts, along with other personal information? We all know that i...

No doubt you've heard the term "Net neutrality." Proponents and opponents have much to say on this topic. However, many Internet users don't even know what it means, or how it will affect them. What is Net neutrality? "Net neutrality" is short for "network neutrality" or "Internet neutrality." The c...

Courts and regulators have recently made life more complicated for Google, impacting millions of Google users worldwide. Notwithstanding Google's $29 billion revenue performance in 2010, new challenges continue to plague the company. As you may know, Google planned to digitize millions of books. In ...

Social media is transforming communications, but what many people do not see is how social media impacts litigation. Today at least 95 percent of all information is electronic, and the continued proliferation of social media surely will make that percentage grow. As I pointed out in my recent colum...

In 1998, Congress enacted the Internet Tax Freedom Act, effectively banning sales taxes on sales on the Internet, with some exceptions. Its purpose was to encourage and foster the growth of Internet business. Internet sales totaled an estimated $155 billion in 2010 and will reach about $250 billion...