Apple’s Siri ads under scrutiny in possible class action lawsuit

March 19, 2012 under all posts

Apple's Siri ads under scrutiny in possible class action lawsuitIf you’ve seen the commercials for the Siri function on Apple’s iPhone 4S which answers questions about current Paris weather and locates family members with just a few words, you might have thought it was the future of technology. It might very well be, but for some users, the feature isn’t quite up to snuff.

Frank M. Fazio has launched a complaint against Apple over what he perceives as false and misleading advertising for the feature. He has complained that the feature does not perform as advertised and that Siri is often slow, unable to understand requests, and a drain on data usage causing users to go over on their monthly plans. Although equipped with a disclaimer which says that sequences are shortened, the commercials show Siri responding promptly and accurately, which for Fazio has not been the case.

Apple does have a fine print disclaimer on its website about Siri which informs users that the feature is only available in Beta and that it may not be available in all languages or areas. Nonetheless, this may be considered lack of information.

Fazio needs to prove damages of over $5m and get 100 other “similarly situated” iPhone 4S users on board to turn his complaint into a class action. We’ll keep you posted.

See the full story on VentureBeat.com

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Groupon faces OFT investigation

December 2, 2011 under all posts

Last month, Groupon was named the second-largest internet company to make a market debut behind Google in 2004. But whilst also dealing with a dramatic decrease in share prices since then, the company now faces an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after breaking nearly 50 advertising regulations in less than a year.

The referral to the OFT came from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) whose complaints against Groupon include not providing full terms and conditions for certain promotions, exaggerating cost savings and not providing evidence of offer availability. It was revealed this week that the OFT launched its own investigation into Groupon back in July.

This is the ASA’s first referral to the Office of Fair Trading since the investigation of RyanAir in 2008, when RyanAir filed a complaint against the ASA for what it called “maladministration, bias and incompetence.”

A Groupon spokesperson has said they would co-operate “fully with the OFT to ensure that the rights of consumers are protected.” Whether the investigation affects what has of late been their fragile share price is yet to be seen.

See the full story on The Guardian

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Has the EU just turned into the Cookie Monster?

June 21, 2011 under all posts

Has the EU just turned into the Cookie Monster?Hands up who likes pop-ups appearing on their screen when browsing the internet? Anyone? Well with the new EU cookie directive implemented on the 25th of May this year, this could be something we will all have to put up with.

So just what are cookies? They are much more than a tasty snack to eat between meals; in the virtual world they are very small pieces of software which are loaded onto a user’s computer (usually without that user’s knowledge) when visiting a website. This piece of software remembers various things about that user, such as log in details and other preferences, thus speeding up the process the next time that user logs onto the website.

It might seem simply helpful, but cookies also store information about people for targeted online marketing based on a user’s browsing history, often without that user’s knowledge. And this is what the EU has trouble with. That’s why they’ve recently brought in a directive which will require websites to get expressed consent for the collection of this information, not just assuming consent unless users state otherwise. Which means… drum roll please… the possibility of pop-up windows for existing users.

The EU’s good intentions for consumers might turn sour. It just depends on how the directive plays out and how creative websites will get whilst still remaining compliant. In the meantime, learn more about the directive and what it means for websites moving forward by going to full article on the CFC website.

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