In February of 2009, Google instituted a requirement that all AdSense publishers display a privacy policy on any website using AdSense product features. Whether they are displaying contextual ads or integrating custom search, not having a privacy policy on a site puts the AdSense publisher’s account at risk of being terminated. While this may seem harsh, Google is very serious about privacy protection and keeping the trust of the general public, especially as they integrate different advertising networks into the AdSense system.

Adding a privacy policy that complies with Google’s AdSense policies is not hard to do, but there are some specific requirements to include in your policy.

Start with a general privacy policy, such as the ones you’ll find on any of the popular commercial sites like Amazon, eBay or even Google itself. The policy should describe what you do with routine web server data as well as any personally-identifiable information such as names and email addresses.

Alter the policy to comply with the following requirements:

* Ensure to your best ability that your privacy policy complies with any applicable laws, particularly those of your home state/province and country.

* Mention that third parties, such as advertisers, may use cookies and/or web beacons to track and collect visitor information. (Cookies are little bits of data that are left on the user’s computer when they visit a website; web beacons are small, invisible images that are downloaded from a third-party site when a page is loaded.)

* Describe how users can use browser settings to manage their privacy, such as by disabling cookie support for specific sites.

Once you’ve made the appropriate changes to the policy, either place a copy of it on all your AdSense sites or link them all to a central, shared policy. The privacy policy should be prominently displayed on those sites, too, so that users can easily find them and alleviate any privacy concerns they might have.

Note that Google does not offer specific examples of compliant privacy policies, nor do they offer specific legal advice on what to place in your policy. All they do is state their requirements, it’s up to you to come up with a suitable policy. That’s why you’ll usually start by modifying someone else’s already-published policy and adapting it to Google’s requirements. (If you rely on a legal firm to develop a policy for you to use, be sure to pass those requirements to them so that they can be incorporated into the legal documents they create.)

For an example of a simple and general privacy policy for AdSense publishers, visit the How To Setup A Website privacy page. WordPress blogs can install the free privacy policy plugin to quickly and easily generate a similar AdSense-compatible privacy policy.

Eric Giguere is a writer and software developer who has written extensively about computing and technology. Be sure to read his other articles for more interesting information on a wide variety of topics.

With email becoming the default method of business communication, the chances of electronic documents playing a vital part in court cases is increasing. Gone are the days when everything was done on paper – indeed even paper documents nowadays will have been created on a computer, and are likely to exist electronically as well as in hard-copy form.

In litigation cases involving electronically stored information (ESI), there are major benefits in dealing with this data electronically, rather than in paper format. Of course, to print the amount of emails that are transferred between parties would amount to reams and reams of paper being printed. Lawyers have enough paperwork taking up their desks, but with a range of cases involving large amounts (often terabytes) of ESI, there are now ways computer forensic companies can transfer files into a format that means data is accessible and manageable.

E-discovery is a way of storing, categorising, and compacting data so it’s easily viewable within a court case. Allowing data to be categorically stored means that information can be refined by date range, specific keywords or file type, whether this is text or images. Rather than trying to find paper copies, e discovery is a neat and tidy solution to having all electronic evidence in one place.

Specialist companies within this area have experts on site that can collect the data for specific court cases. Whether it’s you bringing the complaint, or having to defend your actions, there are ways in which your lawyer can work with digital forensics companies to extract, present, categorise and view the data to back up your case.

It’s vital all relevant evidence is bought forward and with advances within data recovery, there are those companies that can ensure that this process is as streamlined as possible. As with all their services, digital forensic specialists employ people that understand the important of extracting data carefully for maximum effect. With this in mind, data extraction should never be attempted by anyone other than the experts.

Written by Jenny Pilley on behalf of CCL-Forensics E-Discovery

Content Writer for Creare, specialists in Web Design

On December 1, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), an agency of the United States government, published a new set of guidelines on testimonial advertisements and product endorsements. These guidelines affect all commerce within the United States of America, including online commerce. If your business is based in the United States or targets residents of the United States, you need to be aware of and comply with these rules.

The two major changes that affect online businesses deal with how testimonials are presented and the expansion of what constitutes a “material” relationship between two parties.

Customer testimonials are used to sell many products online, just as they are used in print, radio and television advertising. Besides upholding the principle that these testimonials be accurate and authentic — that they come from actual customers with arms-length relationships to the business promoting the product or service — it also requires businesses to clearly disclose what a typical customer can expect from purchasing or using the product or service.

For example, a weight loss program that includes testimonials from customers who lost 11 pounds in one week would have to disclose that this is not typical, that most customers would in effect lose an average of only (say) 1 to 2 pounds per week instead. Because consumers place more trust in testimonials, it’s important that they not be used to mislead consumers.

The biggest change to the FTC guidelines, however, revolves around endorsements of products and services, particularly from online bloggers. Any kind of “material connection” between an endorser (like a blogger) and an advertiser must be disclosed to the consumer. A material connection can be a cash payment, a free sample, or some other benefit to the endorser from the endorsee.

If you receive a free copy of a product or free use of a service in exchange for writing about it, you must disclose this.

If you receive a payment or commission for selling a product or service via a positive review, you must disclose this.

If you are paid to write about or mention a product or service, you must disclose this.

Again, these rules are there to protect the consumer. There are special rules that affect expert and celebrity endorsements as well.

Failure to comply with the FTC guidelines leaves your business open to litigation, which could be nuisance at best and disastrous at worst. Each violation can subject you to substantial fines.

The best defense is to be open and honest with consumers. Be sure to disclose any relationships you have with your advertisers or with the products or services you promote, and make sure any testimonials you display are accurate and typical. It’s better to be safe than sorry!

Eric Giguere writes about many topics, such as how to set up a website or how Google Suggest works. Be sure to read his other articles for more great information!

The Internet has broken down barriers to communicate the world over. Information can be searched as fast as you can say “Google it.” It has surpassed the library, books, television, mobile phone and radio as the number one source of Information. However, these advantages of the Internet have also made it easier to exploit children.

The anonymity and the ease of access has made it easier for sexual offenders and pedophiles to use deception and sometimes manipulation over the Internet, by befriending potential and unsuspecting children and teenagers, and luring them into dirty, sinful acts. Because of this, the exact statistics on child porn in the Internet market is either underreported or not known.

Users can hide behind a firewall, and use multiple accounts to conceal their true identity. As such, recent reports about arrests on child pornography have been quite shocking, considering that the suspects involved come from various backgrounds. For example, a priest from Canada and a college dean from California have been arrested after authorities discovered images of child porn from their computer hard drive. Not only that, but numerous arrests have also been made on clients and customers of child pornography and child abuse. These perverts are willing to pay large amounts of money just to watch web cam videos of children displaying themselves as sex objects, or of children being physically assaulted. It is also appalling that these patrons of child porn have their own families, and their own children, and they are also respected members of their own communities.

On November 17, the lawmakers in the Philippines recently signed and passed the Anti-Pornography Act, also known as Republic Act (RA) 9775. The new law will penalize anyone who takes on the act of using children, employing them and forcing them to engage or perform in sexual activities. This includes manufacturing, production and distribution, and marketing and promotion of child pornographic materials in any format, be it visual, written, digital, or optical.

The same can also be said for web hosting sites, and internet service providers. Like Cambodia and Thailand, the Philippines has been one of the number one countries known for the illegal human trafficking, especially women and children. The government has done so little to stop this abuse on basic human rights. With the passing of RA 9775, it is hoped that stricter laws and regulations will be implemented to protect the Filipinos from being victims of their own circumstances.

Lexington law provides Lexington law information on the anti-pornography laws and human rights abuses.

Irene Miller is a teacher. She loves words and plays with them.

If you work with – or want to work in – online businesses, then you hear about scams and cons being perpetrated on a regular basis. A simple search online will bring up thousands of stories of people being defrauded by fake websites pretending to sell information to help you start your own business, or even memberships to get you started in your own internet business.

But what is happening to the people who are responsible for these scams? Well, there are federal laws that protect the consumer, but anyone with any real knowledge of the industry is aware that Information Technology law – the laws that govern internet usage – is really in its infancy stage.

However, the dominating effect that the internet has had on the community and popular culture has suddenly put Info Tech law into high gear. The federal government – most notably the Federal Trade Commission – is trying very hard to put new laws into effect that will restrain these con artists, and if not, then at least lay the ground work for federal prosecutors to have an easy time convicting them.

In the past year or so, the Federal Trade Commission has created laws that impact those who blog or try to sell things on the internet. People who blog are no longer able to write whatever they wish at will. Now they must say up front that their writings are opinions, and that they no way qualify as an expert. Also, those who sell “opportunities” must reveal somewhere on their site their costs, what they plan on doing with your information, and what the realistic expectations of their program are.

Unfortunately, this is not stopping the Google profits scam artists. If you search Google “home income,” scam after scam still pops up. The reason is that these people actually know much more about Info Tech law and the new FTC regulations than the average consumer. The average consumer does not go to the Federal Trade Commission website before online shopping. The average Google profits scam artist, however, does go to the FTC website before they create their own website.

Because of this, many of these Google home income scam programs are actually following many of the laws, even though their programs are still bogus. The brightly colored, large headlines and centered, bold typeset paragraphs don’t give you any of the FTC required information, but if you click around enough – the Terms & Conditions link, the Privacy Policy links – the real picture will start to emerge. You’ll see this program costs $78 a month, not simply $1.95. You’ll see that as soon as you enter your email address, this website will sell it to others – get ready for a spam attack.

Internet law is much like law in the real world – just because stealing your purse is illegal, doesn’t mean you are not at risk for it happening to you. You must be smart – watch the people around you, have your purse securely on your arm and even hold on the strap with your hand – show the muggers of the world that you won’t be an easy target.

This is the same for looking up job opportunities online. Do your research. Click around and figure out the real story. Show the Google profits scam artists that you won’t be an easy target. The Federal Trade Commission can only protect you once a crime has been committed. You, on the other hand, are the one who can prevent a crime from happening.

If you would like more info check out additional Google Profits Scam and Google Home Income Scam reviews.