Latest in DD

CDD has obtained a Yahoo! lobbying document being given to EU policymakers.  Yahoo! is working to undermine pending legislative proposals that would significantly strengthen the rights EU citizens have regarding the collection and use of their information.  Entiled "Yahoo!

Digital marketing, including data collection, profiling, tracking and targeting, pervades the Internet experience.  One of the less-discussed areas is the targeting of individuals because of their race or ethnicity.   As CDD's new report discusses, multicultural groups are "In the Digital Bullseye," with online advertisers and others focused on reaching African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans and others.  Data collected on each of us can include our financial status, health concerns, location, spending habits--and also ethnicity and race.  Multic

This letter was sent today to top Obama Administration officials. 

In the European Union, privacy is a fundamental Human Right.  So it’s no surprise that leading EU officials are supporting a proposal that place citizens and consumers in better control of their information (or, as its called in the EU, ensuring “data protection”).   Many in the EU understand the stakes, as today’s digital tracking and profiling technologies enable far-reaching surveillance and influence on individuals. 

The report released today by the Federal Trade Commission analyzing expenditures by food and beverage marketers to target both children and teens shows a dramatic increase in the use of digital marketing.  According to the report, "spending on new media, such as online, mobile, and viral marketing, increased by 50%."  The report also underscored how young people are the target of "integrated" campaigns, pursued across the "

Leaders of the Effort to Pass COPPA in 1998 Say Parents Should Now Have Greater Control of their Children’s Information Online
 

The dramatic growth of the data broker industry, fueled by  information on consumers culled from the Internet, social media, mobile phones, and in-store shopping,  has created a multitude of all seeing eyes spying on Americans everyday.  A digital gold mine of infinite details is harvested about each of us--what we buy, who are friends are, how much we earn, our ethnicity, health concerns, location, etc.   For the most part, these records are off limits to consumers, who can't really discover what they say about us--including the likely errors they may contain.

Center for Digital Democracy Charges that Nickelodeon’s Mobile SpongeBob Game
Violates the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

Urges Federal Trade Commission to Investigate and Bring Action Against the Leading Children’s Cable Channel

Nickelodeon and PlayFirst Don’t Play Fair,
Collecting Personal Information from Kids and Inducing In-Game Purchases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 13, 2012
 
 
50+ ADVOCACY GROUPS CALL FOR UPDATES TO KIDS’ ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTIONS
 
 

Washington, DC: The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) filed a complaint today with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) calling for an investigation of and action against the Mobbles Corporation for operating the mobile application Mobbles in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Mobbles, a game involving virtual pets, is directed at children under age 13. It collects personal information from children without providing any notice to parents (nor even attempting to obtain verifiable parental consent), as required by law.