Author: chris

Joseph Sugarman is a beloved advertiser. He was a leader in mail order and direct marketing in the 1970s and 1980s. You may remember his ads for microelectronics and “BluBlocker” sunglasses. These were text-heavy ads, imbued with dreamy optimism of an improved life through gadgetry. They are a delight to read and Sugarman’s style is…

The FTC often experiences “blowback” when it does its job well. Consider the FTC’s dutiful attempt to quickly require warning labels on cigarettes following the seminal 1964 Surgeon General’s report. The Commissioners gathered on a Saturday morning to read the long anticipated report (it was released on the weekend to avoid affecting the stock market)…

Almost 250 artists submitted models in a competition for public sculptures to accompany the Federal Trade Commission. Works Progress Administration artist Michael Lantz (1901–1988) won the “Apex Competition,” named so because the statuary would be placed at the apex of Federal Triangle. Lantz, surviving on a $94/month job, won $46,500 for the competition (about $750,000…

Moving a bit out of my comfort zone of information privacy law, I participated in the Federal Trade Commission’s Blurred Lines, Advertising or Content Workshop on “native advertising” this week.  I was surprised to learn about how much advertisers have breached the wall between editorial and advertising.  It was also surprising to see how much confusion existed…

BNA reports on the formation of the Internet Association, a new trade group that will represent Google, Facebook, eBay, and Amazon. The group introduces itself as, “the unified voice of the Internet economy, representing the interests of America’s leading Internet companies and their global community of users. The Internet Association is dedicated to advancing public…

Update: The New York Times reported on my article yesterday. In February, three reports from respected organizations were released on identity theft. According to Javelin Strategy and Research, “…8.4 million adult Americans…learned last year that criminals committed fraud with personal data such as credit card or Social Security numbers. That’s down from 8.9 million in…

I’ve been thinking of ways to make it clear why I think Javelin Strategy’s conclusions on identity theft are bogus. In a previous post, I explained why companies like those that pay for Javelin’s research (Visa, Wells Fargo) want you to believe that identity fraud is committed by people “connected to the victim.” This is…

2007 brings another identity theft survey from Javelin Strategy. As usual, it strives to conclude that identity theft is on the decline and that most identity theft is the result of information being stolen from the victim. Both conclusions are dead wrong. Why? Javelin’s study doesn’t detect “synthetic identity fraud.” Public polling on identity theft…

Many in the privacy and security field have been aware of “synthetic person” identity theft for some time. In these cases, a fake or “synthetic” person is created in the records of the consumer reporting agencies by identity thieves. My understanding is that they do this by using the Social Security number of a real…

Our friends in the financial services industry desperately want you to believe that identity theft isn’t their fault. And they’ve engaged in a type of statistical trick to convince reporters and lawmakers that it is family and friends who are responsible for the crime. You see, if identity theft is committed by your family and…

Goodmail is a plan that will allow companies to pay a fee to bypass AOL’s junk e-mail filters, thus guaranteeing the delivery of messages. EPIC hasn’t taken a formal position on Goodmail yet, while many other groups have started a campaign against it. And now the spin has begun. Esther Dyson has penned an oped…

DMNews published this advertisement today for the personal information of Art.com customers. In it, Art.com proposes to sell its customer list of 385,577 people basically to anyone: Art.com Lenser New List Description: This file contains buyers from Art.com, a unique resource that brings homeowners, renters, small businesses and interior decorators a wide selection of high-end…