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Google under fire as privacy group complains to FTC over search giant’s refusal to reveal algorithm …

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  • The Electronic Privacy Information Center reported Google to the FTC
  • It claims Google’s Store Sales Measurement program is endangering user info
  • The chief concern is that Google won’t reveal the algorithm it says protects data

Sage Lazzaro For Dailymail.com

A prominent privacy group is asserting that Google is out of bounds regarding consumer data it’s collecting through its Store Sales Measurement program.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier today, claiming the company has collected data that reveals ‘sensitive information about consumer purchases, health and private lives.’

The complaint – which is calling for investigation, injunction, or ‘other relief’ – calls into question Google’s consumer profiling techniques, in which the company has been using billions of credit-card transaction records to link consumers’ online shopping behavior to offline purchases in an effort prove its ads are working online and off.

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The complaint questions Google's consumer profiling techniques, in which the company has been using billions of credit-card transaction records to link consumers' online shopping behavior to offline purchases in an effort prove its ads are working 

The complaint questions Google’s consumer profiling techniques, in which the company has been using billions of credit-card transaction records to link consumers’ online shopping behavior to offline purchases in an effort prove its ads are working

HOW THE CONTROVERSIAL PROGRAM WORKS

Google’s computers are connecting the dots between what people look at after clicking on an online ad and then what they purchase with their credit and debit cards.

For instance, if someone searching for a pair of running shoes online clicked on an ad from a sporting goods store but didn’t buy anything, an advertiser might initially conclude that the ad was a waste of money.

But Google says its new tool will now be able to tell if the same person bought the shoes a few days later at one of the advertiser’s brick-and-mortar stores.

‘Google has collected billions of credit card transactions, containing personal customer information, from credit card companies, data brokers, and others and has linked those records with the activities of Internet users, including product searches and location searches,’ reads the complaint.

‘This data reveals sensitive information about consumer purchases, health, and private lives.’

Google can reportedly track about 70 percent of credit and debit transactions in the U.S.  – it also claims it can preserve privacy while doing this.

‘Google is seeking to extend its dominance from the online world to the real, offline world, and the FTC really needs to look at that,’ Marc Rotenberg, the organization’s executive director, told The Washington Post.

The complaint alleges Google refuses to reveal or allow independent testing of its methods for privacy protection, and although consumers can technically opt out of being tracked, it’s a difficult process the group is calling ‘unfair’ and ‘deceptive.’

The complaint alleges Google refuses to reveal or allow independent testing of its methods for privacy protection, and although consumers can technically opt out of being tracked, it's a difficult process the group is calling 'unfair' and 'deceptive'

The complaint alleges Google refuses to reveal or allow independent testing of its methods for privacy protection, and although consumers can technically opt out of being tracked, it’s a difficult process the group is calling ‘unfair’ and ‘deceptive’

‘The privacy of millions of consumers thus depends on a secret, proprietary algorithm,’ reads the complaint.

The fact that Google is relying on a secretive mathematical formula to protect the data is of the greatest concern to the EPIC, which believes outsiders should be able to audit it and that knowing about it is the only way consumers can make informed decisions.

Additionally, they fear the data collected for the Store Sales Measurement program is susceptible to a potentially disastrous breach.

The foundational algorithm on which the Google algorithm is based has known security flaws – In 2015, researchers were able to hack into the same type of database of healthcare records and access over between 50 and 100 percent of sensitive patient data at an individual level.

The fact that Google is relying on a secretive mathematical formula to protect the data is of the greatest concern to the EPIC, which believes outsiders should be able to audit it and that knowing about it is the only way consumers can make informed decisions

The fact that Google is relying on a secretive mathematical formula to protect the data is of the greatest concern to the EPIC, which believes outsiders should be able to audit it and that knowing about it is the only way consumers can make informed decisions

HOW GOOGLE COULD USE GENOMIC DATA

Privacy campaigners are concerned that governments and private organisations have too much access to our personal details.

This could help them carry out mass surveillance.

When it comes to genetics, the implications are particularly frightening, says Edward Hockings.

For example, there is evidence of a link between genes and criminality.

Scientists say 40 per cent of sexual offending risk is down to genetic factors.

A ‘single national knowledge base’ as the one the UK government is aiming to create might therefore be used for broad genetic profiling.

Google executives have called its approach to advertising and the program both ‘common’ and ‘revolutionary’ – writing it off as acceptable while also claiming it’s doing something different that, for the first time, would be able to prove that online ad clicks lead to purchases in physical stores.

The EPIC notes that this data breached privacy in that it can reveal medical conditions, religious beliefs and other intimate information – but Google says it doesn’t have access to names and other personal information and does not share information about individual users with advertisers and that rather, their partners receive ‘aggregate information.’

What this means is that an advertiser can learn what percentage of people who clicked on an ad made a purchase, but it can’t see detailed information.

For this reason, some are calling this a ‘flawed’ complaint.

While Search Engine Land admits Google has done a poor job promoting its opt-out option, the site claims EPIC is in the wrong and it’s ‘important for privacy advocates to understand what’s going on before they formally complain to regulatory bodies.’

‘In contrast to the statement in the EPIC complaint, Google does not receive or have access to personal credit card transaction data,’ it said.

‘What Google is getting is anonymous, aggregated information from credit card companies; it doesn’t see specific purchases and can’t identify individuals.’

It also points out that the data is encrypted.

With Facebook's program, similar information regarding how many clicks turned into purchases is available, but the company claims no purchasing profiles or data on individual customers is available

With Facebook’s program, similar information regarding how many clicks turned into purchases is available, but the company claims no purchasing profiles or data on individual customers is available

 Facebook introduced a similar, wide scale offline sales measurement program in 2013.

‘Today’s update to Custom Audiences lets retailers measure sales lift, analyze their campaigns and, as a result, allocate budget to where they’re seeing the most success — all without the need to work with a third-party measurement partner,’ the company announced in 2013.

With Facebook’s program, similar information regarding how many clicks turned into purchases is available, but the company claims no purchasing profiles or data on individual customers is available.

‘We built the matching process used in Custom Audiences with a focus on user privacy,’ Facebook said.

‘By hashing all personal data used with Custom Audiences, retailers are able to measure sales lift without providing personal information people haven’t shared with Facebook.’

The information provided to Facebook is used only to generate the measurement reports and is deleted promptly after the analysis is complete.

In 2011, Google settled a charge also brought on by EPIC, in which the company was found guilty of using deceptive tactics and violating privacy promises when it launched its social network, Google Buzz - it agreed to conduct privacy audits for the next 20 years

In 2011, Google settled a charge also brought on by EPIC, in which the company was found guilty of using deceptive tactics and violating privacy promises when it launched its social network, Google Buzz – it agreed to conduct privacy audits for the next 20 years

Google has already been forced to fork over millions in fines to settle FTC charges regarding privacy.

In 2011, Google settled a charge also brought on by EPIC, in which the company was found guilty of using deceptive tactics and violating privacy promises when it launched its social network, Google Buzz – it agreed to conduct privacy audits for the next 20 years.

The following year, Google had to pay $22.5 million for misrepresenting privacy to Safari users.

        

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Title: Google under fire as privacy group complains to FTC over search giant's refusal to reveal algorithm ...

Source: news from Healthcare Privacy

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4747904/Google-receives-FTC-complaint-privacy-issues.html

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Author: KI Design Magazine