There have been quite a few conversations, questions, and concerns across the Gather community this week about Widgets and the perceived security issues they pose to members.
There has also been a ton of misinformation and fear spread unnecessarily.
Gather would like to set the record straight.
If you have questions or concerns about the addition of Widgets on the site, please join Gather CEO Tom Gerace and CTO John Mihalik TODAY (3/6/09) for a live chat at 3:30pm ET.
The live chat will take place in the conversation space within improve.gather.com group.
You must be a member of the group to participate in the chat, so please go join Improve now if you'd like to participate.
If you can't make the chat but have a question, feel free to ask Tom and John your question on the comment thread below. They will try to answer all posted and live questions beginning at 3:30pm ET today.
Thank you!
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Comments: 58
I hope this quells the distraught masses.
The members feel betrayed.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reverses his decisions when the members do not want it, because he know that without members, FB is zilch.
Also, FB's widgets - which only come to members VIA OPT IN - when a FB member clicks on one of the 3pty Apps - like Birthday Cards - they are directed to a page that says the third party application MAY look at their profile and get information from that profile.
FB was in a ton of trouble last May when millions of FB users did not know about this and their privacy was compromised.
If so, I am putting my order for a pony in early!
here
and his first article
here
More Gather members are worried about the individuals on Gather who will be using widgets AGAINST other members - and it does happen NOW - than Gather members who will be using them to improve their group.
And when Obama appoints a new FTC chair, top of the list for the FTC chair is to fix the previously lax guidelines under the Bush admin., and to address the growing privacy concerns and security concerns.
OPT IN SHOULD BE USED.
We were not given a choice.
Behavioral Targeting: Not That Bad?! TRUSTe Survey Shows Decline
Behavioral targeting gains a reprieve, with caveats
Companies to adhere to new FTC guidelines, which include:
Four principles:
• Transparency and consumer control. The commission advises that Web sites that collect data for behavioral advertising provide “a clear, concise, consumer-friendly and prominent statement” that the data are being collected to provide ads tailored to the user’s interests and that the user has an easy and obvious way to choose whether to allow this.
• Security for data retention. Companies that collect data for behavioral advertising should provide “reasonable” protection of that information and retain it for a limited time.
• Obtaining consent for changing use of data. If a company wishes to use online behavioral data in ways other than it indicated when the information was collected, it must acquire an actual opt-in from the Internet user. This might apply, for example, in a corporate merger situation where, going forward, there are significant changes in the way data are collected and used.
• Obtaining consent for using sensitive data. If a company wishes to collect and use online information about medical conditions, children or other sensitive topics in order to present relevant advertising to an Internet user, it must get opt-in consent from that user. "
Nope, I don't.
i am not certain I can be here at that time, but I will try. But I posted my central question for you.
I will try to post the story on my page later today.
In a story posted on March 2, 2009 in B to B online, Behavioral targeting gains a reprieve, with caveats,writer Christopher Hosford discussed recent FTC guidelines regarding behaviorally targeted advertising.
The FTC issued a report last month that affirmed its earlier support of self-regulation. (However, other industry analysts, consumer advocates and THIS writer believe that Obama will soon appoint a new FTC chair who will likely look more closely into privacy concerns regarding behaviorally targeted advertising.
Some members of the FTC commission are concerned that ads are shown to Web users based on previous online activities, which could violate online privacy. Some legal restrictions may be imposed on the industry, if the online ad industry does not regulate itself, according to the FTC.
The biggest concern today is definitely privacy, according to the CEO of an online ad network in New York.
"There has been the concern that through such approaches as deep-packet technology, companies can leverage information through subscriber-based providers to marry anonymous behavioral segment data and identify real people," said John Apprendi, Collective Media CEO.
Apprendi added that online marketing is subject to a higher standard than offline direct marketing.
This is the crux of the problem here on Gather.
The FTC report advocates self-regulation of the online ad industry, despite outcries from industry analysts and consumer advocacy groups.
However, the report includes the following caveats for online advertisers:
The commission’s new guidelines are based on four principles:
•" Transparency and consumer control. The commission advises that Web sites that collect data for behavioral advertising provide “a clear, concise, consumer-friendly and prominent statement” that the data are being collected to provide ads tailored to the user’s interests and that the user has an easy and obvious way to choose whether to allow this.
• Security for data retention. Companies that collect data for behavioral advertising should provide “reasonable” protection of that information and retain it for a limited time.
• Obtaining consent for changing use of data. If a company wishes to use online behavioral data in ways other than it indicated when the information was collected, it must acquire an actual opt-in from the Internet user. This might apply, for example, in a corporate merger situation where, going forward, there are significant changes in the way data are collected and used.
• Obtaining consent for using sensitive data. If a company wishes to collect and use online information about medical conditions, children or other sensitive topics in order to present relevant advertising to an Internet user, it must get opt-in consent from that user."
Regarding these four principles:
The author of the article stated that the FTC noted that the use of clear ways to opt out of data collection is RARELY ADDRESSED by Web sites.
The FTC countered this by stating that these principles do not have to apply to 'first party' or 'intra site' uses; for example, this could be when a publisher tailors editorial content, ads or other features on its own web site for its own customers.
But the FTC added that these trusted Web sites should refer to the FTC privacy principles if they share or sell customer data to others, which may or will be used in behavioral advertising.
Some FTC commissioners expressed concern regarding this latest regluation from the FTC, that "unless the advertising industry does a 'better job of meaningful, rigorous self-regulation, the FTC or Congress may intervene with legal restrictions." Pamela Jones Harbour, FTC Commissioner.
The FTC said it will continue hearing from advocacy groups about their concerns over online privacy and will conduct investigations to determine if instances of behavioral target advertising violate the Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The online industry is showing sensitivity to the issue of privacy, and Google and Yahoo announced new tools that will allow Internet users to opt out of receiving targeted online advertisements.
I think you're on the wrong track here. We're talking about widgets that members themselves place on a group or content page. You seem to be talking about behavoral advertising and marketing, which is a different topic (I would think). Do you see some connection?
I do not see how Gather allowing OTHER Gather members to USE WIDGETS can satisfy the FTC requirements regarding these principles:
•" Transparency and consumer control. The commission advises that Web sites that collect data for behavioral advertising provide “a clear, concise, consumer-friendly and prominent statement” that the data are being collected to provide ads tailored to the user’s interests and that the user has an easy and obvious way to choose whether to allow this.
• Security for data retention. Companies that collect data for behavioral advertising should provide “reasonable” protection of that information and retain it for a limited time.
• Obtaining consent for changing use of data. If a company wishes to use online behavioral data in ways other than it indicated when the information was collected, it must acquire an actual opt-in from the Internet user. This might apply, for example, in a corporate merger situation where, going forward, there are significant changes in the way data are collected and used.
• Obtaining consent for using sensitive data. If a company wishes to collect and use online information about medical conditions, children or other sensitive topics in order to present relevant advertising to an Internet user, it must get opt-in consent from that user."
Katie Scarlett O., Mar 6, 2009, 12:43pm EST
BINGO! There are some serious whackadoodles out there!
This information should not just be provided to everyone and anyone. If they want to market themselves, let them start up their own website to keep track of visitors. Don't get me wrong, I love Gather, but it is a rare find for there to be an actual post that could use this sort of visitor counting. If they wish to market their work, I've noticed that Gather is merely used as an outlet to link to personal websites. I predict the only ones that would be interested in this technology would be those that want to use the information maliciously. I'm all for website administrators collecting data for marketing and research purposes. But this is not everyone's personal website.
Who cares whose visiting your Gather page? My sources say the 'point whores' and computer hackers out there, and that's really it.
Chuck, here is a copy/paste of part of one of Kevin's comments on his article here
that states what another Gather member can easily find out about another Gather member, using widgets.
IP address
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Time of Visit
Date of Visit
Latitude (location)
Longitude (location)
Area Code
City/Town/Village
State/Province
Country
Operating System
Browser
Visit Length (time)
Screen Resolution
Browser Configuration
Connection Type (Dial Up, DSL, etc.)
Host name
Entry Page
Exit Page
Referring URL (what site or page the visitor came from)
Outbound/Outgoing Links (what link they clicked on)
Return Visits
Keyword Activity
Keyword Analysis
Specifically,
My IP ADDRESS, AREA CODE, CITY, STATE, COUNTRY?
NO WAY IN HECK DO I ALLOW ANY GATHER MEMBER TO HAVE THIS.
Hackers have more time than God. A well known saying in the industry.
I've already deleted a lot of people from my 'friends list' that I did not know personally and most all of the groups I've belonged to. Nor am I going to be commenting on just anyone's content anymore. Instead, I will maintain a close knit group of actual friends on here that I've gained a trust with.
A Gather member using a widget can include it as a hidden tracking mechanism that can capture data on the person viewing the comment.
Kevin includes an example of this in his comments to the article.
People would NEVER know that such tracking devices exist.
Once a person is tracked for malicious purposes, it is nearly impossible to stop without leaving the site.
This did happen to me a few years ago. You may not know this, but I am tech saavy for someone who is not a software engineer.
The mistake I MADE was to give my password to my blog to the wrong person. My judgment error.
However, I soon found that certain sections of my blog were hijacked to some god forbidden place, to which I had no access. Worse things happened, too.
I deleted my blog and left ONLINE LIFE ENTIRELY FOR A FEW MONTHS.
NO PROBLEM
ONLY SOLUTION
Every time there's a change, people freak out. Like the last black out/boycott.
There are ways to block the widgets from gathering info. There are anonymizers available to hide your IP. There are firewalls to protect your PC.
Do I want the tracking widgets on Gather? NO!
I'm disappointed in Gather for compromising my privacy after more than two years of never having to think about it, or take preventative measures.
It's a fact that there are malicious widgets, if Gather wants to put their heads in the sand and pretend they aren't a problem. So be it.
Gather CEO Tom Gerace and CTO John Mihalik will be answering your questions in the Conversation Space in Improve.gather.com.
Again, you must visit and join the IMPROVE group to participate in the live chat.
Is there an advantage to holding a chat on the groupspace versus a post?
Thanks!
join first.
Worth a try, but not worth a response.
Thanks Gather. Now I'm going to have to make sure that some of my connections aren't disconnecting from me like LOONEY TUNES.
A member posts an article. Embedded in that article is an html code that is invisible to everyone. That code is generated from a website that records and reports user information (IP address, browser info, country of origin, state/city, how they got to the page, etc...).
The user who posted the article logs into his/her account that hosts the embedded code and can then match up the times the information is recorded to the times the individual person who comments in the article.
Therefore, the person who wrote the article now has information all about the person leaving comments.
It is not uncommon, thousands of sites do this, not just Gather. Gather would have to change up their information to not allow certain methods (I.E. no longer allowing html in posts/comments) to help alleviate (until the next method is found) to not track user information.
I hope this helps give everyone an idea.