Aarons rentals spyware use - FTC settlement …
- http://ftc.gov/opa/2013/10/aarons.shtm
10/22/2013 - "Aaron’s, Inc., a national, Atlanta-based rent-to-own retailer, has agreed to settle FTC charges that it knowingly played a direct and vital role in its franchisees’ installation and use of software on rental computers that secretly monitored consumers including by taking webcam pictures of them in their homes. According to the FTC’s complaint, Aaron’s franchisees used the software, which surreptitiously tracked consumers’ locations, captured images through the computers’ webcams – including those of adults engaged in intimate activities – and activated keyloggers that captured users’ login credentials for email accounts and financial and social media sites… The software was the subject of related FTC actions earlier this year against the software manufacturer and several rent-to-own stores, including Aaron’s franchisees, that used it. It included a feature called Detective Mode, which, in addition to monitoring keystrokes, capturing screenshots, and activating the computer’s webcam, also presented deceptive “software registration” screens designed to get computer users to provide personal information. Under the terms of the proposed consent agreement with the FTC, Aaron’s will be prohibited from using monitoring technology that captures keystrokes or screenshots, or activates the camera or microphone on a consumer’s computer, except to provide technical support requested by the consumer. In addition, Aaron’s will be required to give clear notice and obtain express consent from consumers at the time of rental in order to install technology that allows location tracking of a rented product. For computer rentals, the company will have to give notice to consumers not only when it initially rents the product, but also at the time the tracking technology is activated, unless the product has been reported by the consumer as lost or stolen. The settlement also prohibits Aaron’s from deceptively gathering consumer information. The agreement will also prevent Aaron’s from using any information it obtained through improper means in connection with the collection of any debt, money or property as part of a rent-to-own transaction. The company must delete or destroy any information it has improperly collected and transmit in an encrypted format any location or tracking data it collects properly… Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000…"
MS wants US gov't to reform NSA …
- https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9248854/A_year_after_Snowden_revelations_Microsoft_demands_NSA_reform
June 5, 2014 - "Microsoft has asked the U.S. government to recognize that its search warrants should end at the country's borders, reflecting growing concern that surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency could impact business abroad for tech companies… "The U.S. Government needs to address important unfinished business to reduce the technology trust deficit it has created," Microsoft's General Counsel Brad Smith wrote in a post* on Wednesday…"
* http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_on_the_issues/archive/2014/06/04/unfinished-business-on-government-surveillance-reform.aspx
4 Jun 2014 - "… Under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, users have a right to keep their email communications private. We need our government to uphold Constitutional privacy protections and adhere to the privacy rules established by law…"
