Consumer Protection News & Articles

This week in GRC we examine data-centric security, new consumer protection laws in Massachusetts and Pension Risk Behavior Index.

Lots of social media sites depend on online advertising for most of the revenue generated. Yet, there are many ways to go about integrating ads and targeting them towards specific web users.

Behavioral targeting, a method of compiling data about which sites people visit, what topics they search for and a number of other Web activities to better understand what types of ads might prompt them to make purchases, is relatively common and employed by various publishers and digital enterprises. This approach is now being called into question by consumer groups.

In early 2007, the European Commission's Consumer Affairs Directorate released the Green Paper "on the Review of the Consumer Acquis," a document inviting comment on specific aspects of current consumer protection regulations and how they might be improved.

After over three hundred responses (apparently a high number) from stakeholders ranging from the business sector to consumer organizations and public authorities at various levels, the Commission has released a proposal that has many in the software industry in a bit of a sweat.