Christopher Hoofnagle

Christopher Hoofnagle and Jennifer Lynch Raise Privacy Risks of Social Networking

The Daily Californian, April 9, 2010 by Katrina Escudero
http://www.dailycal.org/article/108991/concerns_persist_after_facebook_settlement

“Consumer privacy issues have taken on a new importance with the rise of social networking,” Hoofnagle said. “The problem is that existing regulatory structures are convinced that privacy issues are institutional. We think of entities such as phone companies as the privacy threat, but with social networking, we are the threat because we reveal too much.”

“What we have to worry about is search histories, pictures and documents that can easily get linked to your e-mail account,” Lynch said. “That info can be used by Google to market you personally, but more importantly, if the U.S. government requested that information from Google, they could easily be granted access to it.”

Christopher Hoofnagle Finds Lenders Ignore Warning Signs of ID Theft

The New York Times, Bits Blog, April 7, 2010 by Brad Stone
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/how-lenders-overlook-the-warning-signs-of-id-theft/

Mr. Hoofnagle argues that the perverse incentives of lenders—to sign up as many new customers as possible—are the heart of the problem and must be central to the solution. “Certain institutions have a very high risk tolerances and those risk tolerances are rational,” he said. “Identity theft remains so prevalent because it is less costly to tolerate fraud.”

Christopher Hoofnagle Notes Disconnect Between Online Marketers and Consumers

San Jose Mercury News, April 2, 2010 by Mike Swift
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14810526?nclick_check=1

A national poll last year analyzed by scholars at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law & Technology found that 66 percent of adults do not want tailored advertising online; a higher share was opposed after hearing about tracking techniques. “There is a real disconnect between business practices in this field and consumer expectations,” said Chris Jay Hoofnagle, director of the center’s information privacy program.

Christopher Hoofnagle Criticizes Online Privacy Policies

The Daily Online Examiner, Media Post blog, March 17, 2010 by Wendy Davis
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.printFriendly&art_aid=124487

Hoofnagle raised an additional problem with privacy policies: He says some companies that allow consumers to “opt out” continue to collect data on consumers, but stop sending them targeted ads. That type of choice, he says, in which consumers are tracked yet don’t receive whatever benefit comes from the tracking, “is completely illusory.”

Christopher Hoofnagle and Jennifer King Find Americans Dislike Online Tracking

-The New York Times, September 29, 2009 by Stephanie Clifford
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/business/media/30adco.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=privacy%20study&st=cse

About two-thirds of Americans object to online tracking by advertisers—and that number rises once they learn the different ways marketers are following their online movements, according to a new survey from professors at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley.

-Adweek, September 30, 2009 by Brian Morrissey
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i549ead0f2b0cb6f9051223b3b846580b

“Our findings suggest that if Americans could vote on behavioral targeting, they would shut it down,” the study’s authors conclude.

-WSJ.com, September 30, 2009 by John Letzing
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090930-713200.html#printMode

U.S. Internet users largely “stand on the side of privacy advocates” when it comes to online tracking, even when assured that they are being tracked anonymously, the study concludes. “That is the case even among young adults whom advertisers often portray as caring little about information privacy.”

Christopher Hoofnagle Predicts Tech Firms Will Boost Lobbying Budgets

Wired, September 2, 2009 by Patrick Thibodeau
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/09/tech-influence-spending-unaffected-by-recession/

“The spending goes up whenever there is a risk of legislation,” said Chris Hoofnagle, director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology…. Over the next year, Hoofnagle expects that Congress will take up bills on security breach notification and behavioral targeting—the display of advertising based on browsing history.

Christopher Hoofnagle Says Fashion Blogger’s Google Suit Difficult to Prove

San Francisco Chronicle, August 28, 2009 by James Temple
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/28/BA0419E2FH.DTL&type=printable

There are two major problems with the approach, he said. First, while there’s a legal obligation of trust between doctors and patients or lawyers and clients, no such inherent understanding between a blogger and a free online service has been recognized by the courts. Second, even if Port does successfully argue that such a relationship existed, Google can claim that its duty was limited—in the same way that a lawyer can break his confidentiality obligation to prevent a crime.