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I tried Alexa sometime ago and had a world of difficultly stopping it from
working after I decided it was a complete waste of time and resources. I
finally managed to stop it from coming up in my browser and communicated
(nastily) with Alexa people as to the poor design of this application. I
wouldn't recommend playing around with it!
JW
-----Original Message-----
From: listmanager@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:listmanager@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On
Behalf Of Gwenael Gautier
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 11:53 PM
To: realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RT] AMZN
slightly off-topic, but for those investing in or using AMAZON, an
interesting thread to follow up:
Gwenn
Amazon.com's Real Security Problem
Crackers weren't Amazon.com's only problem yesterday. If fact, its PR
people can be grateful that the string of attacks diverted the media's
attention from problems that could prove to be more embarrassing:
privacy lawsuits and an FTC probe. The lawsuits allege that Amazon
subsidiary Alexa - which, when installed in a Web browser, tracks
surfers' online movements and suggests related Web sites - "secretly
intercepts personal data and sends the information to third parties,
including Alexa's parent company, Amazon.com," wrote the AP's Michael
J. Martinez. The FTC is conducting an "informal probe" of Alexa, both
Reuters and the AP reported.
Amazon reported the lawsuits and the probe in a document filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to Reuters, the
legal actions charge Amazon and Alexa with breaking two federal laws,
as well as the California Business and Professions Code.
And while Reuters reported Amazon's denial of the allegations, the
complaints recall the recent DoubleClick controversy. According to
Martinez, computer security consultant Richard Smith, who found the
problems in Alexa's software, was concerned about the way Alexa tracks
Web pages by recording the entire address of each page. The story
quoted Smith as saying, "Some [Web addresses] may contain personal
information such as mailing addresses or customer account numbers.
It's conceivable that someone like Alexa could tie it all together
with your surfing patterns and create a profile." And, as Martinez
reports, that's just what the lawsuit charges - that Alexa is
combining its information with Amazon's customer accounts.
So perhaps we should get ready for the next wave of conspiracy
theories - that the denial-of-service attacks were really an attempt
by Amazon to wag the dot-com. - Michelle Goldberg
FTC Investigates Amazon's Alexa
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,9599,00.html?nl=mg
Amazon Facing FTC Probe (Reuters)
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34192,00.html
Amazon.com Subsidiary Probed (AP)
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/amazon_alexa000208.html
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