This is the news - we are watching you

A study has shown that large numbers of news sites are tracking people's movements and collecting personal details from users without telling them.

The research, by the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley's schools of journalism, found that little more than a third of news and media sites were posting information about their privacy policies, while two thirds were collecting personal information.

It found that 38 per cent of the media sites surveyed were disclosing privacy practices, and only 28 per cent were putting up comprehensive privacy policies. Sixty-five per cent of the sites surveyed were collecting personal information from users - such as email addresses or credit card numbers - through vehicles such as online registration forms.

Nearly 70 per cent used cookie files, which can track a user's movements on a site. Most sites did not disclose their use of cookies. Even among those sites with comprehensive privacy policies, a third still failed to disclose their use of cookies.

In the United Kingdom, any company that holds personal data must by law be registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. See //www.dataprotection.gov.ukwww.dataprotection.gov.uk for more information. To register, go to //www.dpr.gov.ukwww.dpr.gov.uk - there is an annual charge of £35.

For more information on this study, please click here

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