Yahoo yesterday confirmed that it is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission over its data collection practices. The news came to light as the Web portal company submitted its annual 10-K report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"We have been contacted by the FTC and have been asked to help them understand certain of our data collection practices," a Yahoo spokesperson said in a phone interview. "We understand that the inquiry was prompted by the California HealthCare Foundation report dated January 2000 on health Web sites."
Yahoo is voluntarily providing information to the FTC investigation, the company spokeswoman said.
The Web portal company earlier this week faced legal hot water when three rival games makers - Nintendo, Electronic Arts and Sega - Tuesday filed a joint lawsuit against the firm alleging that Yahoo had knowingly aided the sale of illegal and counterfeit video games on its Internet auction site. Yahoo has yet to comment publicly on the game makers' lawsuit.
Yahoo can be reached at 408-731-3300 or at www.yahoo.com/.
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