Benjamin Edelman
Benjamin Edelman
- Media Coverage

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The listings below reflect a portion of media coverage and other citations of Ben's recent work.

Facebook Leaks Usernames, User IDs, and Personal Details to Advertisers (May 2010).

  • "Gasp! Facebook Shared Usernames With Advertisers." All Facebook. May 22, 2010.
  • "Facebook Caught Sharing Secret Data With Advertisers." Ars Technica. May 2010.
  • "Facecrooks." Balloon Juice. May 21, 2010.
  • "Mark Z: Grow Up." Blown to Bits. May 23, 2010.
  • "Facebook Sort of Apologizes, and Fixes One Problem." Blown to Bits. May 26, 2010.
  • "Ben Edelman Explains How Facebook Leaks User-Identifying Data to Advertisers." Business Insider. May 21, 2010.
  • "Facebook Shares Information With Advertisers." Clickindia. May 24, 2010.
  • "Facebook Sent Some User Data to Advertisers." cnet news. May 20, 2010.
  • "Sites Caught Sharing Secret Data With Advertisers, Report Says." CNN Tech. May 21, 2010.
  • "Social Networks May Be Sharing Your Info With Advertisers." Computerworld. May 21, 2010.
  • "Facebook Shared Personal Data With Advertisers Without User Consent." Daily Finance. May 20, 2010.
  • "Ben Edelman Explains How Facebook Leaks User-Identifying Data to Advertisers." Daring Fireball. May 21, 2010.
  • "WSJ: Privacy Loophole Discovered at Facebook, MySpace." digitalmediawire. May 21, 2010.
  • "WSJ: Privacy Loophole Discovered at Facebook, MySpace." digitalmediawire. May 21, 2010.
  • "More Privacy Trouble Brewing for Facebook and other Social Networking Sites." E-Commerce News. May 21, 2010.
  • "Facebook Violates Privacy Promises, Leaks User Info to Advertisers." Electronic Frontier Foundation. May 21, 2010.
  • "Busted: Facebook Gave Advertisers Names and Ages of People Who Clicked Ads." Forbes.com. May 21, 2010.
  • "For Facebook, the Privacy Snowball Just Keeps On Rolling." Gigaom. May 21, 2010.
  • "Facebook Users Will Soon Have More Control Over Their Personal Info." Hawaii News Now. May 26, 2010.
  • "Social Networking Sites Passing On User Data to Ad Agencies." Help Net Security. May 21, 2010.
  • "Social Networking Sites Passing On User Data to Ad Agencies." Help Net Security. May 21, 2010.
  • "Facebook's New Privacy Controls Likely Won't Affect Retailer's Efforts." Internet Retailer. May 27, 2010.
  • "Facebook Sharing Users Details With Advertisers." Latest News. May 25, 2010.
  • "Respect Confidentiality." Lauren Bloom's Blog. May 21, 2010.
  • "How Facebook Leaks Your Data, Then Denies It." Meek Geek. May 28, 2010.
  • "Facebook Announces About-face on Privacy Policy." MSNBC. May 2010.
  • "Does Facebook Take Their Own Privacy Policy Seriously?." PCMAG.COM BLOGS. May 21, 2010.
  • "Unbelievable: WSJ Calls Facebook's Referring URLs a Privacy Violation (UPDATED)." Read Write Web. May 20, 2010.
  • "Facebook Breaches Its Privacy Policy." suite101.com. May 24, 2010.
  • "Who Needs Friends Like Facebook?." Technology-Headlines. May 27, 2010.
  • "Making Sense of Facebook and MySpace's Privacy Loophole." The Atlantic Wire. May 21, 2010.
  • "Social Media Privacy Scandal Revealed. Advertisers Know More Than They Should." The Blog Herald. May 21, 2010.
  • "Facebook Gives User Info To Advertisers: Harvard Univ Professor." The Economic Times. May 23, 2010.
  • "Does Facebook Take Their Own Privacy Policy Seriously?." The Hackers Edge. May 22, 2010.
  • "Facebook, MySpace Confront Privacy Loophole." The Wall Street Journal. June 21, 2010.
  • "Facebook, Myspace Leaked User Data To Advertisers." The Washington Post. May 21, 2010.
  • "Busted: Social Websites Sharing Personal Data." Ton's Guide. May 21, 2010.
  • Coverage also available in German (1, 2).
  • Measuring the Perpetrators and Funders of Typosquatting (February 2010).

    Google Toolbar Tracks Browsing Even After Users Choose "Disable" (January 2010).

    Upromise Savings -- At What Cost? (January 2010).

    Google Click Fraud Inflates Conversion Rates and Tricks Advertisers into Overpaying (January 2010)

    Google Still Charging Advertisers for Conversion-Inflation Traffic from WhenU Spyware (January 2010)

    Personal Rapid Transport at Vectus, Inc. (November 2009)

    Deception in Post-Transaction Marketing (November 2009)

    Invisible Banner Advertisements & Miscellaneous Ad Fraud.

    Towards a Bill of Rights for Online Advertisers (September 2009).

    Priced and Unpriced Online Markets (July 2009).

    Front-Running Study: Testing Report (June 2009).

    How Google and Its Partners Inflate Measured Conversion Rates and Increase Advertisers' Costs (May 2009).

    Miscellaneous ad fraud / Securing Online Advertising: Rustlers and Sheriffs in the New Wild West. (2008-2009)

    In Support of Utah's HB450 (March 2009).

    Running Out of Numbers: Scarcity of IP Addresses and What to Do About It (March 2009).

    Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment? (Winter 2009).

    Demographics, Career Concerns or Social Comparison: Who Games SSRN Download Counts? (with Ian Larkin) (February 2009).

    False and Deceptive Display Ads at Yahoo's Right Media (January 2009).

    CPC/CPA Hybrid Bidding in a Second Price Auction. With Hoan Soo Lee. (December 2008)

    Privacy Lapse at Google JotSpot (October 2008).

    Unintended Adventures in Browsing (October 2008) and Vulcan Golf, et al., v. Google, et al.

    CPA Advertising Fraud: Forced Clicks and Invisible Windows. (October 2008.)

    Securing Online Advertising: Rustlers and Sheriffs in the New Wild West. (September 2008.)

    Auditing Spyware Advertising Fraud: Wasted Spending at VistaPrint. (September 2008.)

    Competition among Sponsored Search Services . (July 2008.)

    PPC Platform Competition and Google's "May Not Copy" Restriction. (June 2008.)

    Spyware and Adware. Written testimony submitted to the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Hearing on Impact and Policy Implications of Spyware on Consumers and Businesses. (June 2008.)

    Debunking Zango's 'Content Economy'. (May 2008)

    Coupons.com and TRUSTe: Lots of Talk, Too Little Action. (March 2008)

    Optimal Deterrence when Judgment-Proof Agents are Paid in Arrears - with an Application to Online Advertising Fraud. (March 2008)

    Critiquing C-NetMedia's Anti-Spyware Offerings and Advertising Practices. (February 2008)

    Sears Exposes Customer Purchase History in Violation of Its Privacy Policy. (January 2008)

    The Sears "Community" Installation of ComScore. (January 2008)

    A Closer Look at Coupons.com. (August 2007)

    Zango Practices Violating Zango's Recent Settlement with the FTC. (July 2007)

    Comscore Doesn't Always Get Consent. (June 2007)

    The Safety of Internet Search Engines - Revisited. (May 2007)

    Spyware Still Cheating Merchants and Legitimate Affiliates. (May 2007)

    How Spyware-Driven Forced Visits Inflate Web Site Traffic Counts. (May 2007)

    Advertising Through Spyware -- After Promising To Stop. (March 2007)

    The Safety of Internet Search Engines - Revisited. (December 2006)

    Bad Practices Continue at Zango, Notwithstanding Proposed FTC Settlement and Zango's Claims. (November 2006)

    Intermix Revisited. (November 2006)

    Current Practices of IAC/Ask Toolbars. (October 2006)

    False and Misleading PPC Ads. (October 2006)

    Certifications and Site Trustworthiness and Adverse Selection in Online "Trust" Authorities. (September 2006)

    Cookies Detected by Anti-Spyware Programs: The Current Status. (September 2006)

    How Vonage Funds Spyware. (July 2006)

    Spyware Showing Unrequested Sexually-Explicit Images. (June 2006)

    Banner Farms in the Crosshairs. (June 2006)

    The Safety of Internet Search Engines and Search Engine Safety, Revisited. (May 2006)

    Crafts by Veronica vs. Yahoo Overture et al. (May 2006)

    People of the State of New York v. Direct Revenue, LLC. (April 2006)

    The Spyware - Click-Fraud Connection -- and Yahoo's Role Revisited. (April 2006)

    Advertisers Funding Direct Revenue. (March 2006)

    Advertisers Funding 180solutions. (March 2006)

    Nonconsensual 180 Installations Continue, Despite 180's "S3" Screen. (February 2006)

    Pushing Spyware through Search. (January 2006)

    Affiliate Hall of Shame. (January 2006)

    180's Newest Installation Practices. (January 2006)

    Deciding Who To Trust. (December 2005)

    Cleaning Up Sony's Rootkit Mess. (November 2005)

    What Claria Doesn't Disclose (Any More). (November 2005)

    Claria Shows Ads Through Exploit-Delivered Popups. (October 2005)

    Video: New.net Installed through Security Holes. (October 2005)

    Strategic Bidder Behavior in Sponsored Search Auctions and Internet Advertising and the Generalized Second Price Auction: Selling Billions of Dollars Worth of Keywords. (September 2005)

    How Expedia Funds Spyware. (September 2005)

    How Affiliate Programs Fund Spyware. (September 2005)

    How Yahoo Funds Spyware. (August 2005)

    Debunking ShopAtHomeSelect. (August 2005)

    What Passes for Consent at 180solutions. (June 2005)

    Microsoft to Buy Claria? (June 2005)

    More on Google's Role: Syndicated Ads Shown Through Ill-Gotten Third-Party Toolbars. (June 2005)

    Hotbar Installs via Banner Ads at Kids Sites. (May 2005)

    Intermediaries' Role in the Spyware Mess. (May 2005)

    Netscape 8's "Trust Rating" System. (May 2005)

    Does Jeeves Ask for Permission? and Ask Jeeves Toolbar Installs via Banner Ads at Kids Sites. (May 2005)

    Spyware Installation Methods. (April - May 2005)

    3D Desktop's Misleading Installation Methods. (April 2005)

    180solutions's Misleading Installation Methods - Ezone. (April 2005)

    Claria's Misleading Installation Methods - Ezone and Dope Wars. (April 2005)

    Comparison of Unwanted Software Installed by P2P Programs. (March 2005)

    Advertisers Supporting eXact Advertising. (March 2005)

    Threats Against Spyware Detectors, Removers, and Critics. (March 2005)

    The News, at My Site and Elsewhere. (February 2005)

    How VeriSign Could Stop Drive-By Downloads. (February 2005)

    How Google's Blogspot Helps Spread Unwanted Software. (February 2005)

    Investors Supporting Spyware. (January 2005)

    What Hope for Federal Anti-Spyware Legislation? (January 2005)

    180 Talks a Big Talk, but Doesn't Deliver. (January 2005)

    Claria's Practices Don't Meet Its Lawyers' Claims. (Janaury 2005)

    Media Files that Spread Spyware. (January 2005)