Privacy groups on Thursday criticized the Federal Trade Commission’s new policies on targeting advertising by tracking consumer behavior online, saying they don’t adequately protect the public, including children and people with sensitive medical conditions.
Although privacy advocates acknowledge that the FTC took some steps toward greater clarity, they complained the commission largely adhered to its Bush administration policy of self-regulation.
“It failed to protect consumers here,” said Jeff Chester, executive director at the Center for Digital Democracy in Washington, D.C. “This announcement today is directly connected to the failure of the FTC to oversee the consolidation of control of advertising in the online marketplace.”
In a long-awaited report Thursday, the FTC largely left intact its principles governing the notice, choice and control that companies should give consumers when they track their activities to refine the type of advertising they get.
Through such behavior-targeting practices, someone who visits a golf site might be labeled a golf enthusiast and offered a pitch for a golf vacation package, even when visiting a site that is completely unrelated.
The new guidelines add a few clarifications:
• Excluded are sites that do not share the behavioral information it collects with outside parties. This applies when sites sell and display ads in-house.
• Companies that collect data outside the traditional Web site context should make sure that disclosure and choice remain clear and easy to use. This seems aimed at mobile applications and partnerships that some Internet service providers have with companies like NebuAd Inc. to display ads based on general surfing, not just at a particular site.
• Companies should consider limiting how long they keep data.
The FTC said companies should obtain “express consent” from consumers before collecting sensitive data, such as tracking children’s behavior, health histories and Social Security numbers. But it leaves to others to come up with standards on what qualifies as sensitive.
The guidelines do not have the force of law but could be relied upon by FTC staff as it decides which cases to investigate and pursue.
They “still fall short of the regulatory authority of the agency to step in and protect consumers,” said Lillie Coney, associate director at Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More