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posted by janrinok on Tuesday June 30 2015, @05:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-mean-sombody-hadn't-realised? dept.

The New York Times published an article on Sunday confirming what we've all assumed — that internet privacy policies are so full of loopholes as to be meaningless. They found that of the 100 top alexa-ranked english-language websites, 85 had privacy policies that permitted them to disclose users' personal information in cases of mergers, bankruptcy, asset sales and other business transactions.

When sites and apps get acquired or go bankrupt, the consumer data they have amassed may be among the companies' most valuable assets. And that has created an incentive for some online services to collect vast databases on people without giving them the power to decide which companies, or industries, may end up with their information.

"In effect, there's a race to the bottom as companies make representations that are weak and provide little actual privacy protection to consumers," said Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit research center in Washington.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday June 30 2015, @06:30PM

    by frojack (1554) on Tuesday June 30 2015, @06:30PM (#203422) Journal

    I won't purchase any goods from an online retailer I can get from brick and mortar, mail order, or phone orders

    A distinction without a difference I'd say.

    Mail/Phone orders gets keyed into the same database as on line sales.

    Unless you spend your day walking from one brick store to another, and only paying with cash, and always powering down your cell phone before entering any store, you are deluding yourself. Oh, and be sure to wear your Guy Fawkes mask, because facial recognition is coming to the stores and street corners near you.

    Personally, there is a limit to the amount of time I have in my day to engage in this level of paranoia. I don't like it, but I have better things to do than drive all over town for things I can have delivered with 6 mouse clicks.

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  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday July 01 2015, @12:26AM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Wednesday July 01 2015, @12:26AM (#203584) Homepage Journal

    I like to chat with the people I meet in brick and mortar stores. That does not work well with amazon.

    I always pay cash. I dont use store loyalty cards.

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    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday July 01 2015, @12:36AM

      by frojack (1554) on Wednesday July 01 2015, @12:36AM (#203590) Journal

      Not really, I moved out of my parents basement many many decades ago.

      I actually have a wife, offspring, grandkids, neighbors, guests, and friends. My problem is finding enough peace and quiet.
      I don't walk/drive to a store just to accost some random person.

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