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Some career Web sites, recruitment services and automated job-application kiosks offer flimsy privacy protections and might even violate employment and credit laws, a report released last week asserts.
Many job sites still let too much information from resumes posted online get into the hands of third parties through online "cookies" that monitor Web surfing, according to the report, led by Pam Dixon, formerly of the University of Denver's Privacy Foundation and now head of her own group, the World Privacy Forum (www.jobsearchprivacy.org/)
The report also faults self-service job application computers commonly used by chain stores. It says they almost always demand social security numbers and perform background checks on applicants without clearly stating who will see the information.
Dixon is urging job seekers to demand more stringent privacy protections. She also wants the Federal Trade Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to look more closely at how job sites and recruitment services handle information.
Other prominent Internet watchdogs also participated in the investigation, including members of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
The report says that even people who don't hunt for jobs online should be aware that many resumes, no matter how they are submitted, are processed through vast databases.
Sprint PCS to let users watch TV on cell phones
Beginning Wednesday, millions of Sprint PCS Vision subscribers will have access to a new multimedia service: television.
By way of mobile technologies and agreements forged by Idetic, a Berkeley, Calif., wireless content developer, live television broadcasts can be watched on the tiny full-color screens of handsets such as the Samsung VGA 1000, A600 and Sanyo 8100. Called MobiTV, the live streaming service offers a dozen channels, including MSNBC, CNBC, Discovery Channel, ToonWorld and the Learning Channel.
The service, which is $10 a month for unlimited use, allows users to select channels and control volume on the cell phone keypad. A button can summon a channel guide to the cell phone screen.
Although audio reception of the channels is of digital cell phone quality, the images display at a rate of just 1 to 2 frames per second, compared with 18 to 30 frames per second for regular television; sometimes the action resembles a slide show.
Philip Alvelda, Idetic's chief executive, said the frame rate was limited by existing network capabilities and handset technology.
As their capabilities improve, he added, so will television reception on cell phones.
TV networks losing out to Web porn
Broadcasters and advertisers have been fretting lately because one of their favorite market segments - U.S. males ages 18 to 34 - isn't watching as much TV anymore. The reason, according to a survey released by comScore Media Metrix, is that these guys are looking at online pornography.
You've got to look past the headline of comScore's news release to find that conclusion, but the numbers speak loud and clear: Of the 26-million American males 18 to 34 surfing the Internet in September, 19-million (that's three-quarters) went to "adult" sites, the most visited category by the group. They also spent 17 percent more time online than the average Internet user, "voraciously consuming" an average of 3,370 pages - 27 percent more than average.
But comScore soft-pedaled its main finding. Its news release led with another conclusion: that males 18 to 34 make up the biggest percentage of visitors to gaming sites.
Lumi Pad makes notes illuminating
The Lumi Pad, a sort of backlit whiteboard, could turn out to be the amusing, harmless holiday-season gadget that unexpectedly proves useful. The tablet, which runs on four AAA batteries, uses dry erase markers and fluorescent ink to create an illuminated writing surface.
The Lumi Pad can display messages even when it is turned off, but the letters really light up only when the power is on. There is also a kind of disco option, whereby the light flickers behind the text, evoking a dormitory beer bash or a beachfront discotheque.
The pad comes in three sizes: 7 inches $25, 10 inches ($40) and 14 inches ($75), with battery life varying from 20 hours for the smallest to eight hours for the largest. (The 14-inch model has an AC adapter.) All three are expected to arrive in coming weeks at Brookstone stores and at www.brookstone.com
Messages written on the Lumi Pad are legible from a surprising distance. With normal use, this gadget could easily brighten up a kitchen, den or conference room until New Year's.
- Compiled from Times wires