Increasingly, organizations are using automated tools to scan and collect information online. They’re looking at sites such as social networks and blogs for reasons such as reputation management, public relations, market research, and background checks. Tools that can automatically scroll for data known as screen scrapers are also becoming more advanced, but companies that use them must avoid legal pitfalls, which could include personal privacy violations as well as copyright infringement. Social networking and other sites that collect user-generated data should also take steps to protect data on their sites, including establishing appropriate privacy policies and implementing the appropriate technical security measures. Sites should also provide their users with mechanisms for deleting their sensitive data whenever they choose or utilize tools such as captchas (squiggly letters and numbers that only a human can decipher and enter manually).
