Image Courtesy of PBS.org

The Obama administration is now backing legislation that would protect the personal data of internet users which, in my humblest opinion, is a step in the right direction from last year’s call for voluntary codes of conduct for advertisers and data companies.

Of course, said advertisers and data aggregators will whine and complain until they’re blue in the face, defending their more or less shady practices as integral to giving internet users a relevant advertising experience – which is somewhat true if you’ve accepted the fact that the advertising is going to be there anyway.

However, a recent shopping experience has inspired me to question whether or not these advertising experiences are truly relevant. I don’t normally wear a watch (or any jewelry) but while leafing through a magazine last week I spotted a totally rad all-black Swatch and, being the nostalgic child of the 80’s and victim of consumer culture that I am, I decided that I must have it for my birthday – which is in a few days (feel free to send gifts via paypal). It has come to my attention that all week I’ve been seeing advertisements for the exact same Swatch I ordered and a few other ones that I had looked at. How is that a relevant advertising experience if I’ve already bought the item?

Totally Rad!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind advertising and tracking so much while I’m shopping, the aggregators have recommended very cool t-shirt websites on more than one occasion, but I’ve always felt that the key aspect of this (and myriad other issues) is choice – consumers should have the option of whether or not they want their information available to advertisers – and apparently Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz feels the same way as the commission has proposed a ‘do not track’ option.

“We don’t think tracking is per se bad at all,” said Leibowitz. “We just think that consumers should be able to opt out of tracking. … You should have the right not to be followed around if you don’t want to be followed around.”

For those of you who despise tracking and can’t wait for legislation to pass (if it passes), apparently the new Internet Explorer 9 from Microsoft has an anti-tracking feature but a recent article from Computing UK suggests that it may be flawed.

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Technorati Tags: Advertising, Federal Trade Commission, Internet Explorer 9, Jon Leibowitz, Microsoft, Obama administration, Swatch

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As we predicted in our most recent PRobecast discussion, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Justice Department will be examining whether or not Apple’s new media subscription service violates antitrust laws according to a recent report. (I was unaware that there were any anti-trust laws left in the U.S. after 8 years of the Reagan administration)

Apple announced on February 15 that it would be starting a new subscription service for publishers to sell the electronic versions of their magazines and newspapers on mobile devices such as the  iPad through Apple’s online app store. However, publishers will be forced to offer their lowest subscription rates and Apple will be taking a 30% cut of every subscription sold, like they did with songs purchased from the iTunes store.

Apparently, Google launched a rival service the very next day that features an alternative payment model that offers more flexibility, while requiring a smaller (10%) share of publisher revenue.

What are your thoughts on this? Do the new services offered by Apple and/or Google violate anti-trust laws?

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Technorati Tags: Anti-Trust, Apple, Google

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By now I’m sure you’ve heard of the mass protests taking place in Egypt, demanding that President Hosni Mubarak resigns. I was amazed to learn the government had shut down the internet in Egypt for about five days in an attempt to quell the protests. What amazed me even more (in a good way this time) was when Google launched Speak2Tweet – a service aimed at helping Egyptians stay in touch with the world through twitter.

According to DailyTech.com, Speak2Tweet was developed over the weekend – allowing Egyptians to hear tweets and leave tweets by calling a specific telephone number – no internet necessary. Messages are tweeted with the hashtag Egypt (#egypt).

I know there are plenty of ways to communicate without using the internet, especially in a time of great strife for a country, but to have something that has become so basic be stripped so easily is atrocious. It also makes a bold statement – the internet is a powerful force that can not only connect you to the word but also connect and unite people for a common cause. Kudos to Google for finding a work-around, and doing it so quickly to boot.

What do you think of Speak2Tweet – was it necessary?

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