Housing News
Google faces global criminal charges for collecting your private info
Google in even MORE hot water
Recently, Google has been called to the carpet when it was discovered that Google Street View cars were not just collecting public wifi data such as SSID info, but were “unknowingly” collecting payload data which Google says they have since segregated from other data on the network and as of May they have halted their Street View cars.
It has been reported that Google not only violated personal privacy by collecting public SSID information but by collecting email passwords, web activity and personal data from computers as their Google Street View cars drove by. Google continues to claim that the data collection was accidental and they did not know that their cars were set up to data collect.
Despite claims of halting their info-gathering cars, Austria has banned Google Street View cars and today, the Connecticut AG announces they will lead a multi-state probe about Google’s unauthorized collection of personal data.
On Friday, the Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley announced that her office “will be seeking information from Google to ensure that Street View is not acquiring personal information” which is a fancy way of saying that they’ll be eyeballing Google as well.
According to The Independent, today, “the French data protection agency CNIL said it was examining private data collected for Street View, including emails and possibly banking details, to decide if the firm should face criminal charges or other sanctions.”
“It was a mistake for us to include code in our software that collected payload data, but we believe we did nothing illegal. We’re working with the relevant authorities to answer their questions and concerns,” a Google representative said in a statement, according to the L.A. Times.
CC Licensed image courtesy of byrion via Flickr.com.
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Housing News
Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?
With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.
The average home age is higher than ever
(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.
With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Prices of new homes on the rise
Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.
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Housing News
Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?
The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.
Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes
(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.
Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.
So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.
1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues
It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.
Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.
2. Two major media brands emerge
Last fall, the News Corp. acquisition of Move, Inc. was given the green light by the feds, and this month, Zillow finalized their acquisition of Trulia.
…Click here to continue reading this story…
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Miami Condo Shop
June 22, 2010 at 10:15 am
Google seems to be pushing all the wrong buttons these days. The company is acting “BP-ish” lately. It’s such a lame and pathetic excuse for Google to claim that the data collection was ‘accidental’ and they didn’t know that their vehicles were set up to data collect. One can’t help but wonder what Google was really up to….
BawldGuy
June 22, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Fewer people these days are lookin’ askance at me when learning how I avoid Google whenever possible. They’re cavalier, arrogant, and scary powerful. What’s your info worth to you?