Briefs

EBay’s PayPal payment service will join with cable company Comcast and set-top box maker TiVo to let television viewers donate money and buy goods from their sets using a remote control. As early as this fall, viewers with PayPal accounts will be able to click on TV commercials to make purchases, give donations to political campaigns and nonprofits, and ask advertisers to text information to their phones. PayPal will make money by charging transaction fees, while Comcast and TiVo may be able to demand higher rates for the interactive ads. PayPal, which already handles 20 percent of global e-commerce sales, is in a push to make its service available on cell phones and other devices.

Spokeo, which compiles dossiers on consumers, agreed to pay $800,000 to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission that it sold personal information in violation of the law. From 2008 to 2010, Spokeo sold millions of consumer profiles to human resources departments and recruiters without verifying the data were accurate or making sure the information would be used for legally permissible reasons, the FTC says. Spokeo, which has not admitted guilt, says it has changed its business practices to improve protections.