US FTC AND FCC INVESTIGATING CARRIER IQ

Federal investigators have launched a probe in order to examine Carrier IQ’s smartphone software, which tracks a range of activity and sends certain data to wireless carriers without users’ knowledge. Carrier IQ executives met with officials from both the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commuission on Tuesday, The Washington Post reports. “We are complying with all investigations at this time as we have nothing to hide,” said Carrier IQ representative Mira Woods. “We have been completely transparent through this process.”

Allegations that the Federal Bureau of Investigation may also be using Carrier IQ software to spy on smartphone users arose on Tuesday when the FBI denied a Freedom of Information Act request for materials related to the Carrier IQ scandal.

FACEBOOK AGREES TO PRIVACY AUDITS FOR 20 YEARS TO SETTLE SUIT BY FTC

Facebook settled a privacy lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission on Friday and agreed to submit to independent audits for the next 20 years. The FTC had accused the social network of being deceptive in its privacy practices, Reuters reported. ”Facebook’s innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. Facebook will create two positions dedicated to privacy, including a chief privacy officer.

In addition, Reuters said the social network must be transparent about what it does with personal user data in the future and it must receive user permission before changing how it shares private user data. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he “is committed to making Facebook the leader in transparency and control around privacy.

GOOGLE AND FTC SETTLE BUZZ PRIVACY ISSUES

Google's lawyers can collectively breathe a sigh of relief, as the FTC has accepted an earlier proposal relating to Buzz's numerous privacy violations. The service -- which already settled one suit and is scheduled for rendezvous with the grim reaper -- was singled out by the commission for misleading users by partially opting them in, even after they had explicitly declined to do so. As punishment, Google will be required to field yearly audits from an independent party for the next twenty years.

NINE PRIVACY GROUPS ASK FTC TO INVESTIGATE FACEBOOK

The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and seven other privacy groups have contacted the U.S. Federal Trade Commission asking it to investigate Facebook for “secretly tracking users after they logged off of Facebook’s webpage.” A 34-page complaint filed by EPIC asks for an injunction, investigation and “other relief” from the social network. EPIC said Facebook is home to more than 60 billion photographs and alleges it developed its “tag suggestions” feature to collect data on Facebook users “without knowledge of consent in order to develop facial recognition technology.” The complaint specifically states:

Given these extraordinary circumstances, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, The Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, urge the Commission to investigate Facebook, determine the extent of the harm to consumer privacy and safety, require Facebook to cease collection and use of users’ biometric data without their affirmative opt-in consent, require Facebook to give users meaningful control over their personal information, establish appropriate security safeguards, limit the disclosure of user information to third parties, and seek appropriate injunctive and compensatory relief.

EPIC’s letter also details how the social network violates its own terms of service and shows how hard it is for a user who has been tagged in a photo to delete the original image which, in most cases, is owned by somebody else. EPIC wants Facebook to create a detailed privacy program and to immediately suspend its face-tagging feature.

FTC INVESTIGATING GOOGLE'S ANDROID

Antitrust investigators with the Federal Trade Commission are focusing on Google’s Android operating system and web search services, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Reportedly, there is some concern that Google prevents its Android partners from implementing services provided by Google’s competitors to their smartphones.

One example comes from backin May, when Google blocked Motorola from using Skyhook Wireless’ location services on its phones. The FTC is also investigating whether Google promotes its own services over its rivals, and whether it actually uses data that its competitors have collected, such as local reviews, to populate its own results.

The FTC announced that it was opening an investigation into Google’s business practices on June 24th and, at the time, Google said that it was not clear what the FTC’s concerns were. The search giant said that it will cooperate fully and will continue to follow its five pillars: “do what’s best for the user,” “provide the most relevant answers as quickly as possible,” “label advertisements clearly,” “be transparent,” and “loyalty, not lock-in.”

GOOGLE FACING FTC INVESTIGATION

Google's drawn the ire of the Federal Trade Commission before for failing to follow its own privacy policies. Now, however, the Mountain View crew is apparently facing a formal inquiry from the FTC as it seeks information about Google's search and advertising business. The civil investigative demands are set to be sent out within the next five days, according to the Wall Street Journal, and the commission will be looking into whether Google's search engine illegally routs all those internet eyeballs scanning its site to its own services instead of those offered by competitors. Sound familiar? It should, because Google's under investigation for similar anticompetitive accusations made in Europe.

FTC LETS GOOGLE OFF THE HOOK FOR ILLEGAL DATA COLLECTION

The Federal Trade Commission has concluded their investigation into Google's illegal collection of emails and passwords through Wi-Fi via its Street View vehicles. The FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection wrote Google a formal letter today noting "concerns about the internal policies and procedures that gave rise to this data collection," but satisfaction that the company's agreed to change all that and appoint a director of privacy. "Because of these commitments, we are ending our inquiry into this matter at this time," the document reads. [Engadget]