Gasta News: EU warns Internet companies to 'protect information'

The European Union has told internet companies to make better efforts to protect information they are given by consumers, or face tougher regulation.
Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told leading e-commerce and internet search firms that standards of privacy are "not satisfactory".
"Basic consumer rights in terms of transparency, control and risk are being violated," she said.
Internet firms say they have recently taken action to protect users' data.
Consumer rights
The technology used by internet companies to profile customers is becoming so sophisticated that more confidential personal information is being recorded than consumer watchdogs believe is necessary.
In a speech on Tuesday, Ms Kuneva warned internet giants such as Microsoft and Google that "the current situation with regard to privacy, profiling and targeting is not satisfactory".
The EU is concerned that consumers are being pressured into handing over personal data to subscribe to internet services, and that confidential information is then abused to create a profile to target the customer for sales.
Last month, the social networking site Facebook was forced to abandon a plan to change its policy towards privacy after a backlash by users.
The EU cites this as evidence that the regulators need to intervene to protect consumers.
Brussels recognises that keeping data that tracks customers' preferences is useful for marketing, but insists that consumer rights must be protected.
Ms Kuneva warned online businesses that if the EU fails to "see an adequate response", the regulator will not "shy away" from its duty to protect consumers.
"We must establish the principles of transparency, clear language, opt-in or opt-out options that are meaningful and easy to use," she said.

Gasta News: Orange Makeover

Orange will kick off a £30m makeover this week?

The operator has worked with creative agency Fallon to produce a global integrated campaign which it said is its biggest yet.

The campaign involves advertising around its new "I am..." positioning, along with changes to 120 consumer touch points including its call centres and stores.

The Orange portal will be updated to reflect the changes with more inclusion of user-generated

Gasta Press Release :Channel 4IP

Gasta Latest Channel 4 News

From 2nd July, potential suppliers will be given an opportunity to register their interest and ask questions about the 4IP fund at http://channel4.com/4ip. We will keep the site updated with information on how to submit ideas, the range of projects we are looking for, as well as how our partnership arrangements work. Throughout July & August, the Channel 4 team will be taking part in a number of activities and events - including sponsoring 2gether, a new festival taking place in London in July - in order to talk broadly about Channel 4's ambitions for digital media and engage informally with some of the people who may want to submit ideas and look for funding from 4IP when we launch in September.

The official 4IP launch will involve a range of events (currently planned for 17-25 September) at which we will outline our vision for the fund, introduce our partners and provide examples of the type of projects 4IP will be looking to invest in. We will also begin actively soliciting ideas and responding to proposals.

We will be in touch again soon with details of the September launch events, but if you would like any more information in the mean time then please do not hesitate to get in touch.