If you do a search for my company’s website on Google, one of the top hits is a page at Quantcast.com that purports to display “visitor statistics” for our domain. These statistics are wildly inaccurate by orders of magnitude and make it look as though our site gets only a tiny percentage as many visitors as it actually does. What’s more, there are all kinds of demographic charts and info, purportedly about our site, that don’t seem to have any connection to reality whatsoever. How do I get them to stop misrepresenting us? [more inside]
posted by dacoit on Aug 27, 2009 - 17 answers

How are violations of a website/vendor's privacy policy enforced? [more inside]
posted by toxic on Apr 25, 2009 - 11 answers

What information is made public when filing an LLC for Foreign Qualification in New York? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jan 5, 2009 - 2 answers

I stumbled on a phpMyAdmin page for a database of personal info along with credit card numbers, hosted by a multinational corporation. I deleted some records. How do I report it without being accused of hacking? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Dec 3, 2008 - 23 answers

Does it become legal to use a person's image without their consent or knowledge, as long as you put a black bar over their eyes and don't use their real name? I cannot afford to talk to a lawyer about this. [more inside]
posted by interrobang on Mar 8, 2008 - 16 answers

It seems our new office building's landlord is monitoring and logging our internet traffic. Is this OK? [more inside]
posted by negatendo on May 11, 2007 - 13 answers

I represent a UK company reselling US server space to EU companies. Which parties have to adhere to safe harbor? [more inside]
posted by bwerdmuller on Feb 7, 2006 - 2 answers

Scenario: Linda, an author, is at a party. Linda says that she is writing a book about near-death experiences. Sarah, a guest at the party, says, "Oh, I had one!" and proceeds to recount her experience to the assembled guests. Linda finishes writing her book and includes Sarah's story in it, using Sarah's real first name and some details from Sarah's life (profession, husband's first name and profession, Sarah's religious background). Is Linda legally allowed to do this without changing Sarah's name in the published book? Did Sarah waive her right to privacy by telling the story at a party? What about Sarah's personal details, which were not revealed at the party, but known to the author because of their shared social circle? Legal citations are appreciated.
posted by xo on Jan 7, 2006 - 25 answers

Research-filter: I'm looking for sources of EU laws, policies, positions, and white papers on privacy and/or RFID technology. [more inside]
posted by electric_counterpoint on Oct 11, 2005 - 1 answer

Being a non-US citizen that has family living in the continental US I have noticed that border traversal has been getting exceedingly difficult and more intrusive. However, the US-VISIT program seems to take it a little far (IMO). [more inside]
posted by purephase on May 16, 2005 - 20 answers

I found out a few weeks into a job that my employer had installed spyware (VNC) on my work computer and had been watching what I've been doing (screen mirroring) since I started there. Is this legal? Should I confront him? This all makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Apr 25, 2005 - 24 answers

Background checks: I have a job interview coming up, and wonder if they'll do a credit check. If they do, I'm in trouble. I need this job very badly...thus the bad credit. Besides credit, employers may check education and criminal backgrounds (mine are clean), but do they have to let you know? How do you ask a potential employer about this without raising flags? While we're on it, is there a secret shit-list out there that employers may go to to see if you're a loser? Especially in software/web development in the northwest...
posted by anonymous on Jan 10, 2005 - 42 answers

The IMDB entry for Donnie Darko says: "The script initially called for Donnie's fantasies to be about Alyssa Milano. This had to be changed however when Richard Kelly was denied the legal rights to reference her in this manner." Does anyone know what laws are operating in this situation?
posted by lbergstr on Oct 24, 2004 - 13 answers