[Privoxy-users] Concern about Privoxy sponsor

[Lee]

On 2/5/18, Ian Chard <ian at chard.org> wrote:
> Hi Privoxy people,
>
> I recently received an email in these terms from a company called
> Comparitech about the sponsor currently displayed on Privoxy's website.
> I don't make a judgement either way about your sponsor but thought you
> should know that this is happening.  Right now the sponsor is a binary
> options trading website.

Hi Ian,

First off, thanks for mentioning privoxy on your website.

I took a quick look at the site mentioned in your .sig and didn't see
any references to privoxy.  I then tried a search on your site and the
search engine found only one link from a 2014 post, so my initial
reaction was that Comparitech was just looking for free advertising.
Does that seem about right to you?

And since you claim to be an amateur law nerd, what are the consumer
protection laws like in the UK/EU?
In the US, the Federal Trade Commission has put out guidelines for
affiliates & it seems to me that if comparitech was a US company they
could get in trouble with the FTC (but I'm not a lawyer, so I could be
totally wrong there :)

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking#affiliateornetwork
    As for where to place a disclosure, the guiding principle is that
it has to be clear
    and conspicuous. The closer it is to your recommendation, the
better. Putting
    disclosures in obscure places – for example, buried on an ABOUT US or
    GENERAL INFO page, behind a poorly labeled hyperlink or in a “terms of
    service” agreement – isn’t good enough.
  >>Neither is placing it below your review or below the link to the
online retailer<<
    so readers would have to keep scrolling after they finish reading.

Now take a look at
  https://www.comparitech.com/vpn/reviews/expressvpn/
The disclosure link is at the bottom of the page; way past the review,
'you might also like' links, comments, faqs & links to the latest
reviews.
Is that acceptable in the UK?

Thanks,
Lee


>
> Warm regards
> - Ian
>
>
> === BEGIN ===
>
> Hi Ian,
>
> I noticed your website sends users to Privoxy here on this page - [a URL
> from my blog]. I wanted to warn you that they're sending their visitors
> to a couple of shady sites, like a binary options review website which
> promotes known investment scams (take a look at the bottom of each page).
>
> I'm sure you don't want your visitors getting scammed - if you're
> looking for an alternative, may I suggest our list of free VPNs as an
> alternative?
>
> [a URL on their site]
>
> In case you’re unaware, a VPN is another type of proxy that achieves the
> same end result as Privoxy. VPNs sacrifice a small amount of speed
> compared to other types of proxies but are more secure, so I think your
> visitors will find this valuable nevertheless.
>
> Perhaps you'd consider swapping out the Privoxy link and send people to
> us instead?
>
> === END ===
>
> --
> Ian Chard <ian at chard.org>    http://rainbow.chard.org/
> sedimentation fault -- beach dumped
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