January 21, 2023

TechCrunch: India releases guidelines for social media influencers accepting paid promotions

TechCrunch: India releases guidelines for social media influencers accepting paid promotions. “As the market of social media influencers is getting bigger in India, the South Asian nation has introduced endorsement guidelines to limit unfair trade practices and misleading promotions on the web. On Friday, the Department of Consumer Affairs held a press conference to announce new guidelines to make it mandatory for social media influencers to disclose promotional content in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
January 17, 2023

University of York: Study reveals online fake reviewers suffer from pangs of conscience

University of York: Study reveals online fake reviewers suffer from pangs of conscience. “The study, led by the University of York, found individuals to be quite competent in writing compelling fake reviews in unpredictable ways, but it caused a moral dilemma for some. The researchers say the findings of the study could be used by websites to put in place better systems to detect fake reviews, which could appeal to the contributor’s moral obligation to be truthful.”

Research & Opinion 0
November 28, 2022

WIRED: This App Gives Your Screenshots Superpowers. That’s Just the Beginning

WIRED: This App Gives Your Screenshots Superpowers. That’s Just the Beginning. “What if screenshots were linkable, or portals to the playlist, the mapped location, the shopping page you wanted to share? That’s the reality Alex Mahedy has been trying to create for the past few years. The twentysomething New York City–based entrepreneur has even convinced some noteworthy venture capitalists to fund the idea. He just launched a new app for sharing link-enabled screenshots, called Pager.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
November 17, 2022

Swipe and buy: Social media is now a destination for holiday shopping (Washington Post)

Washington Post: Swipe and buy: Social media is now a destination for holiday shopping. “Savannah Baron keeps an exhaustive spreadsheet of perfect gifts: a camping chair love seat for the couple who enjoys the outdoors; a refillable candle for your eco-conscious cousin; a cocktail infusion kit for the friend who’s into mixology. It’s not for her. It’s for her 189,000 TikTok followers.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
November 14, 2022

University of Kansas: New Approach Could Help Protect Consumer Data Exposed In Purchase Transactions

University of Kansas: New Approach Could Help Protect Consumer Data Exposed In Purchase Transactions. “Whether they are shopping at Costco or watching Netflix, consumers are consistently exposing personal data. Even though companies may be taking reasonable precautions to protect customers (including those provisions required by law), the distinctiveness of purchasing patterns creates a privacy vulnerability.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
October 20, 2022

New York Times: South Korean Super App Goes Down, Putting a Halt on Life

New York Times: South Korean Super App Goes Down, Putting a Halt on Life. “Millions of people had trouble getting in touch with one another. Many could not pay for everyday items at convenience stores or order food and groceries. Travelers were left stranded because they were not able to book taxis, depriving drivers of income. The chaos had one source: the Kakao suite of apps was down because of a fire at a data center.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
October 17, 2022

Reuters: Exclusive-Scores of Google rivals want EU tech law used in antitrust case – letter

Reuters: Exclusive-Scores of Google rivals want EU tech law used in antitrust case – letter. “More than 40 European rivals to Google’s shopping service urged EU antitrust regulators on Monday to use newly adopted tech rules to ensure the Alphabet unit complies with a 2017 EU order to allow more competition on its search page. The European Commission fined Google 2.4 billion euros ($2.33 billion) five years ago and told the firm to stop favouring its shopping service.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
October 12, 2022

Newswise: Score a discount on Amazon? You might’ve unwittingly paid more

Newswise: Score a discount on Amazon? You might’ve unwittingly paid more. “More than a quarter of vacuum cleaners sold on Amazon have at some point pretended to offer a discount when they had actually just increased the price, according to new research. By pairing a price increase with the introduction of a previously unadvertised ‘list price’ for a product, Amazon signals to shoppers that they are receiving a discount when they actually pay 23% more, on average, for their new vacuum than they would have just a day earlier. Days after the price hike, the price drops and both the list price and misleading discount claim disappear.”

Research & Opinion 0
September 20, 2022

FTC: FTC issues illuminating report on digital dark patterns

FTC: FTC issues illuminating report on digital dark patterns. “As the FTC’s 2021 workshop, Bringing Dark Patterns to Light, and recent academic literature establish, dark patterns take on a variety of nefarious guises – for example, hiding the full cost of a transaction behind nondescript dropdown arrows or small icons, sending people on a digital scavenger hunt just to cancel a subscription, using default settings to subvert their privacy choices, or even sneaking stuff into customers’ shopping carts without their knowledge.”

New Resources 0
September 13, 2022

Krebs on Security: Transacting in Person with Strangers from the Internet

Krebs on Security: Transacting in Person with Strangers from the Internet. “Communities like Craigslist, OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace and others are great for finding low- or no-cost stuff that one can pick up directly from a nearby seller, and for getting rid of useful things that don’t deserve to end up in a landfill. But when dealing with strangers from the Internet, there is always a risk that the person you’ve agreed to meet has other intentions.”

Security & Legal Issues 0

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