We are excited to announce the Me2B Alliance is now Internet Safety Labs. We’ve changed our name but not our core mission. Here’s our new pitch. We are Internet Safety Labs, and we're on a mission to make technology safe for everyone. We’re a nonprofit that creates...
I’m writing this on USA’s Independence Day 2021. I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom—especially in the digital world. Mainly because it doesn’t exist there (or here, since I’m posting this online).
For some time, the Me2B Alliance has been working on easy-to-understand educational material to better convey the particular harms visited upon us through the “Invisible Parallel Dataverse”, which is mainly embodied through a vast network of entities artfully calling themselves a “media ecosystem” but which is in fact the massive infrastructure and industry of Digital Advertising.
The Me2B Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit creating a safe and just digital world through standards development and independent technology testing. We are a new type of Standards Developing Organization (SDO) – involving everyday people in creating the standard for safe and respectful technology. We also perform independent testing and audits of connected technology, like websites and mobile apps.
Me2B Alliance’s Head of Validation Research, Noreen Whysel, recently presented “Shedding Light on Dark Patterns: A Case Study in Digital Harms,” at the 2021 Information Architecture Conference.
On May 6, 2021, two days after the Me2B Alliance published our report on data sharing in school utility apps, Google issued a “pre-announcement” describing major improvements to app labeling in the Android app store.
The announcement signals a serious intention to not only catch up to Apple’s privacy label, but surpass it, by introducing independent validation of the Android app privacy information.
Me2BA Executive Director Lisa LeVasseur was recently featured on the Masters of Privacy podcast, as part of a series of conversations with thought leaders working at the intersection of marketing, data, privacy, and technology.
The concept of better privacy practices is not new – we’ve been talking about it since the birth
of the internet. But what exactly does “better privacy” mean, and how do we get there?
Policymakers have been working on legislation oriented around privacy for some time. While
there have been some steps in the right direction, significant change won’t happen until we
broaden the lens. What most people want but don’t have the terms to describe is respectful
digital relationships. In the same way there is an unspoken code for respectful behavior in
physical-realm relationships, this same type of behavior is just as essential when engaging with
an online service or website.
Me2B Alliance (Me2BA) research recently found that 60% of the school apps we reviewed were sending student data to potentially high-risk third parties without knowledge or consent.
60% of School Apps are Sending Student Data to Potentially High-risk Third Parties Without Knowledge or Consent According to New Research from Me2B Alliance
Research uncovers disturbing findings around privacy concerns with the use of school applications
Chalk up a win for the good guys on data privacy. And California residents are the ultimate winners.
Back in December, 2020, the Me2B Alliance submitted a letter to the Office of the Attorney General for the State of California. The letter was in response to proposed changes to the regulations adopted by the AG’s office to implement the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Our letter noted that the Alliance has a clear preference for privacy by default , which in this instance means that “opt in” (a consumer’s clearly stated preference to share her information and receive advertising) is a more respectful default standard than requiring consumers to “opt out.”