Posts tagged Practices
Why Petitions Won’t Change Apple’s Labor Practices Anytime Soon
Feb 1st
Not even 24 hours after Apple reported its jaw-dropping Q1 financial results, the company found itself as the target of some relentless investigative journalism by the New York Times. In particular, as part of an ongoing series about Apple, the Times published a detailed investigation of some of the tech giant’s biggest overseas suppliers, ugly labor abuses and all.
From deadly plant explosions and poisonous screen-cleaning chemicals to unsafe working conditions and long hours, the report was anything but forgiving. In response, there is a small but growing chorus of consumers asking Apple to do more about these issues. A petition demanding a more ethically-built iPhone 5 and other products is said to have amassed 40,000 signatories in its first 24 hours.
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Apple has already made some efforts to improve labor practices among its suppliers, something the Times article acknowledges. It has thoroughly audited its suppliers, in many cases pressuring them to change more egregious practices. This year, the company even published a list of its suppliers for the first time, in an effort to be more transparent. Still, as the Times report illustrates, many abuses persist.
The company, like others that make consumer electronics, remains in an awkward position as its quest to meet growing demand clashes with the ethical concerns that naturally arise when the manufacturing is done in countries that lack the U.S.’s labor laws. Apple has stated that achieving the level of efficiency they now boast simply wouldn’t be possible in the United States, where manufacturing has waned, labor is costly and regulations too strict to allow for lightning speed turnaround on last-minute changes. To stay competitive, it needs to keep its operations in places like China.
E-Signatures vs. Wallets: Which Votes Count More?
Forty thousand signatures may sound like a lot, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to 37 million. That’s how many iPhones Apple sold in its last quarter, in addition to more than 15 million iPads. The pressure from consumer and human rights groups may well ramp up in the coming weeks and months, but for the time being the number of people voicing their concern is only .07% of the number that bought iPads and iPhones in the last quarter. That’s not counting iPods and Macs.
To make a substantial impact, there would need to be an actual boycott of Apple products widespread enough to make a noticeable dent in their sales numbers. Some may decline to buy the iPhone 5, iPad 3 or iTV in protest, but probably not enough to make a difference.
Alternatively, the issue would need to turn into a much bigger PR problem for Apple, leading consumers to think twice or forcing the company to preempt an exodus by pressuring suppliers to shape up.
This isn’t to suggest that a concerted enough Web-fueled protest couldn’t generate the pressure required to encourage change. We saw it happen in more ways than one with the SOPA and PIPA debate. Still, this is Apple we’re talking about. Rather than asking citizens to phone their representatives, such a protest would be asking millions to break their addiction to some of the most popular consumer electronics products of all time. These are devices that have woven themselves deeply into our day-to-day lives.
If people were to flee Apple, where would they go? To one of Apple’s competitors? They’re not exactly innocent either.
What do you think? Are labor rights issues enough to cause you to reconsider buying devices like smartphones and tablets? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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Headline – SEO – A Work Of Art Addresses Deceptive Practices and False … – DigitalJournal.com (press release)
Jan 25th
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Headline – SEO – A Work Of Art Addresses Deceptive Practices and False …
DigitalJournal.com (press release) It is not unusual for top marketing firms to get shocking feedback from their prospective clients in regards to SEO after discussing what their previous marketing firms have claimed to do. He has revealed rampant deception in this industry that needs … |
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Market Target, San Diego’s #1 SEO Agency Releases Best Practices for Top Ranking – San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Jan 11th
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Market Target, San Diego's #1 SEO Agency Releases Best Practices for Top Ranking
San Francisco Chronicle (press release) Market Target, San Diego's leading provider of SEO San Diego, San Diego SEM and San Diego SEO Training announced today best practices for strong search engine rankings. These best practices represent a culmination of direct recommendations from the … |
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Ocean Marketing’s Shady SEO Practices Exposed – Business 2 Community
Dec 29th
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Ocean Marketing's Shady SEO Practices Exposed
Business 2 Community There aren't many hard and fast rules to SEO (that's why we call them best practice tips) but if there were any rules a website should follow no matter what, it's that your content must be original! If Ocean Marketing had republished my post and cited … |
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SEO and PPC Best Practices Webcast – PR Web (press release)
Dec 15th
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SEO and PPC Best Practices Webcast
PR Web (press release) A webcast entitled SEO and PPC Best Practices is now open for registration on the FUSION b2b website. A webcast entitled SEO and PPC Best Practices is now open for registration on the FUSION b2b website. The free webcast is scheduled for Thursday, … |
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Do As I Say, Not As I Do: A Look At Search Engines & SEO Best Practices
Dec 1st
Now that the holidays are upon us, we all probably could use some cheering up. So I thought I’d have some fun with our favorite search engines: Google, Yahoo, Bing, YouTube, and Blekko. At Nine By Blue, I have been developing software that automatically checks sites for technical SEO best…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
View full post on Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Controversy Surrounds Data Gathering Practices of Mobile Analytics Company [Updated]
Nov 23rd
There is a brewing controversy surrounding the data that cellular operators and cellphone manufacturers know about users. It has started with researcher and coder Trevor Eckhart, known as TrevE on the XDA Developer forums, digging into the code of a company called Carrier IQ (CIQ). According to Eckhart’s research, CIQ has the ability to know just about everything a user does with a cellphone, from when and how a dropped call took place at a certain time and location to what input method a consumer is using and even what they user is inputting.
The depth of the allegations are startling. Does CIQ really have the ability to key log everything that a user types? The fight has now gone legal with CIQ sending Eckhart a cease-and-desist letter and removal of his research while the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has come to his aid. CIQ claims copyright and false allegations of Eckhart’s research while the EFF says the researcher is protected under Freedom of Speech and Fair Use doctrines. Make no mistake, this battle is more than just about copyright and the free speech. It is the first step of unveiling exactly what companies know about their cellphone customers and how they use that data.
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[Update Nov. 23, 7:24 PM EST -- The EFF is reporting that Carrier IQ has dropped its cease-and-desist suit against Trevor Eckhart as of this afternoon. There are likely two reasons for this: A) CIQ realized that they had very little of a legal case and B) this was about to get very public. At this point the news had been relegated to developer and technology circles but when it comes to data and privacy issues, nothing brings out the mainstream media like a lawsuit. Especially one being defended by a powerful civic organization like the EFF or ACLU, both of which use the press to drum up support for their clients and expose the plaintiff companies.
See the fax from the CEO of CIQ to Eckhart himself here.
Research: Root Code, Device Access & System Admin
It appears that the initial cease-and-desist letters from CIQ have worked. The original material from Eckhart’s research, posted in various Android security and file hosting sites, are no longer published. (here and here you will find the 404 not found to those articles). Eckhart also published the companies training manuals. All of this information was found for free on open sources, according to Eckhart and the letter sent to CIQ on his behalf from the EFF.
What Eckhart found was a series of code used by CIQ to track the behavior of users baked into the root and skins of HTC smartphones. Research on Samsung devices was done by XDA member k0nane. Both instances foundn that CIQ had code that had device access with the purpose of tracking data that can be accessed by a system administrator. Essentially what that means is that all the data in a device, including all personal data, messages, input methods, calls received (and dropped), media usage (app) statistics and more can be accessed by an admin with access to the CIQ data. That means that CIQ and its partners basically have access to your entire smartphone.
Image: Capabilities found in the CIQ code. Source: XDA Developer blog.
The outcry over mobile data tracking has been heard loud and clear this year. We saw that with the iOS/Android/Windows Phone location tracking “scandal” earlier in the year and other flares ups through the summer. Yet, that does not mean that what CIQ does is inherently wrong. It may have a little too much access to the device but the service it provides is helpful to the OEMs and carriers in creating better user experiences.
What Does CIQ Actually Do?
In a media advisory posted to CIQ’s website, the company defends its practices. The note, posted from the company’s headquarters in Mountain View on Nov. 16 is titled “Measuring Mobile User Experience Does Matter!” and outlines what the company does and does not do. Here are the pertinent paragraphs:
Carrier IQ delivers Mobile Intelligence on the performance of mobile devices and networks to assist operators and device manufacturers in delivering high quality products and services to their customers. We do this by counting and measuring operational information in mobile devices – feature phones, smartphones and tablets. This information is used by our customers as a mission critical tool to improve the quality of the network, understand device issues and ultimately improve the user experience. Our software is embedded by device manufacturers along with other diagnostic tools and software prior to shipment.While we look at many aspects of a device’s performance, we are counting and summarizing performance, not recording keystrokes or providing tracking tools. The metrics and tools we derive are not designed to deliver such information, nor do we have any intention of developing such tools. The information gathered by Carrier IQ is done so for the exclusive use of that customer, and Carrier IQ does not sell personal subscriber information to 3rd parties. The information derived from devices is encrypted and secured within our customer’s network or in our audited and customer-approved facilities.
Our customers have stringent policies and obligations on data collection and retention. Each customer is different and our technology is customized to their exacting needs and legal requirements. Carrier IQ enables a measurable impact on improving the quality and experience of our customers’ mobile networks and devices. Our business model and technology aligns exclusively with this goal.
Eckhart’s research is basically saying that CIQ is lying in that it does not track some of the functionality that it denies tracking and believes he has found the source code to back up those claims.
CIQ is a venture-backed company that raised its Series C funding in 2009. It was named as an Innovative Business Analytics Company Under $100M to watch by IDC in late October of this year. In addition to Samsung and HTC, CIQ has published relationships with Nielsen, Vodafone Portugal, Huawei and the entire Android platform among several others.
This is an ongoing story. What does CIQ really know about users? What is it sharing with the OEMs and carriers? We will attempt to follow up with pertinent parties to get a more accurate view of what CIQ is up to and report our findings as soon as we have more information.
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SEO Best Practices For HTML5: Truths, Half-Truths & Outright Lies – Search Engine Land
Nov 14th
 Search Engine Land |
SEO Best Practices For HTML5: Truths, Half-Truths & Outright Lies
Search Engine Land His tone did not indicate any type of excitement about the Schema.org announcement or the use of the tags as an SEO strategy. Other panelists commented on how the Schema.org tags could lead to additional code bloat, and in the end, … |
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SEO Best Practices For HTML5: Truths, Half-Truths & Outright Lies
Nov 14th
During a panel at SMX Advanced 2011 in Seattle, I remember hearing a question about Schema.org tags. More specifically, I remember Greg Boser remarking about how search engines have come full circle. First, they gave us meta data. Then they took it away (as a ranking factor). Now, search engines…
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6 Best Practices for Modern SEO – Mashable
Nov 8th
 Search Engine Land |
6 Best Practices for Modern SEO
Mashable SEO software firm SEOmoz did some eye-tracking case studies on Google's SERP (search engine results page). The results show that users heavily gravitate toward any of Places' listings, whether they're mixed into organic lists, concentrated in a group … SEO Companies Are Not Created Equal Explains Aaron Franklin Of SEOKiwi.com 5 Ways To Improve Your International SEO Strategy Smart Organic Keyword Research |
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