Vogel Internet, Information Technology and e-Discovery Blog : Texas Internet, Information Technology, eCommerce & E-Discovery Lawyer & Attorney Peter S. Vogel : Gardere Wynne Sewell Law Firm : Dallas TX

Apparently not every service offered by Google is a success as Google found that its Google Health did not catch on as expected. So Google Health will be retired January 1, 2012 with data available through January 1, 2013. Google Health’s goal was “to create a service that would give people access to their personal health and wellness information, “ but Google announced:

Google Health is not having the broad impact that we hoped it would. There has been adoption among certain groups of users like tech-savvy patients and their caregivers, and more recently fitness and wellness enthusiasts. But we haven’t found a way to translate that limited usage into widespread adoption in the daily health routines of millions of people.

Google announced the means by which users could retrieve their Health data:

If you’re a Google Health user, we’ve made it easy for you to retrieve your data from Google Health any time before January 1, 2013. Just go to the site to download your information in any of several formats: you can print and save it, or transfer it to other services that support industry-standard data formats. Available formats include:

Printable PDF including all the records in your Google Health profile

Industry-standard Continuity of Care Record (CCR) XML that can be imported into other personal health tools such as Microsoft® HealthVault™

Comma-separated value (CSV) files that can be imported into spreadsheets and database programs for ongoing tracking and graphing

HTML and XML versions of the original “data notices” sent to your Google Health profile by linked data providers

A unified ZIP archive that includes all files you’ve uploaded to your profile, plus all of the formats above

Given the federal government $19+ billion investment to automate health records it’s interesting to see that Google Health was not a winner in this space.

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Google was the most valuable brand name in the world for 4 years, and now Apple has finally surpassed Google as the most valuable brand.  Rounding out the top 10 are very familar names:

1. Apple
2. Google
3. IBM
4. McDonald’s
5. Microsoft
6. Coca-Cola
7. AT&T
8. Marlboro
9. China Mobile
10. GE

Of course one reason for Apple’s value has been its great success in retail. No wonder J.C. Penny hired Ron Johnson to be their new CEO (Johnson was Apple’s senior vice president of retail).

Since so much of the world is dependent on eCommerce, including J.C. Penny, it will be interesting to see how Apple and J.C. Penny fare. I wonder what this portends for the future of eCommerce?

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A new lawsuit against Google for Internet location tracking highlights my recent eCommerce Times column that Internet privacy may not be possible. The new class action lawsuit brought by Jon Pessano and others asserts that Google uses its location marketing database to generate billions of dollars in location based ad revenue.

The lawsuit is based in part on the reports that Apple and Google confessed that they tracked locations of iPhone, iPads, and Android devices. However until the court in Tampa, Florida certifies the plaintiffs’ class the lawsuit will not proceed, but if the class is certified this will be one very interesting case to follow.

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Steve Jobs’ predicts that Apple’s freeiCloud will allow everyone store all of their music, video, photos, and documents on the Web, which is no surprise in today’s hot cloud world. But many alarms went off around the world with the FBI’s announcement that the hacker group LulzSec breached a FBI’s Internet and stole 180 passwords and users names which were posted on the Internet.

So maybe the Internet is still not secure enough for all users to rely on iCloud, but the iCloud announcement was unique for many reasons. Not the least of which was that Apple pre-announced the iCloud in advance of the Apple WWDC (World Wide Developers’ Conference), highly unusual for Apple.

The cloud is unbelievably hot today, and the iCloud is obviously one more way that Microsoft and PC manufacturers will have to re-invent themselves. That is, if iCloud is a success which may seem automatic given Apple great on successful innovation. But it’s possible that Internet users will prefer to keep their own computers and not rely on the cloud. Of course many folks are worried about security, maybe the FBI’s recent break-in will be a wake-up call. Stay tuned.
 

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Two recent Pennsylvania State Court rulings only make things more confusing as Social Media privacy disputes become more prevalent.

Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge Albert J. Cepparulo ruled in Piccolo v. Paterson denied a motion to require the Piccolo to accept Patterson as a Facebook friend. In this case Piccolo was injured in an auto accident in which Paterson admitted liability for the accident. When Paterson learned that Piccolo regularly posted updates and photos to her private Facebook page, Paterson asked the Judge to order Piccolo to allow her to be a Facebook friend so Paterson could view updates and photos. The ruling protected Piccolo’s private Facebook updates and photos.

Paterson relied on another Pennsylvania case of McMillen v. Hummingbird Speedway Inc. in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court where McMillen was ordered to provide his Facebook and MySpace users names and passwords. Also the Judge John Henry Foradora,, and “shall not take steps to delete or alter existing information and posts on his MySpace or Facebook account.” McMillen’s lawsuit “alleged substantial injuries, including possible permanent impairment, loss and impairment of general health, strength, and vitality, and inability to enjoy certain pleasures of life.” So when Hummingbird discovered that McMillen’s Facebook and MySpace pages showed that McMillen was posting travel pictures from many locations the Judge concluded that McMillen was not entitled to privacy for his Facebook and MySpace postings.

Stay tuned for more court ruling on Social Media postings!

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