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This paper aims to address the privacy problem associated with the use of internet search engines. The purpose of the paper is to propose and validate a set of methods and protocols to guarantee the privacy of users' queries.

In this paper h(k)‐private information retrieval (h(k)‐PIR) is defined as a practical compromise between computational efficiency and privacy. Also presented are h(k)‐PIR protocols that can be used to query any database, which does not even need to know that the user is trying to preserve his or her privacy.

The proposed methods are able to properly protect the privacy of users' queries. When internet users apply the protocols, search engines (e.g. Google) are not able to determine unequivocally the real interests of their users. The quality of the results does decrease with the increase in privacy, but the obtained trade‐off is excellent.

Current private information retrieval (PIR) protocols suffer from two significant shortcomings: their computational complexity is O(n) where n is the number of records in the database, which precludes their use for very large databases and web search engines; and they assume that the database server cooperates in the PIR protocol, which prevents deployment in real‐life uncooperative settings. The proposed protocols overcome both problems.

This is the first set of protocols that offer practical protection for the privacy of the queries that internet users submit to an internet search engine. The proposal has been implemented and it will be released to the general public soon. It will help to protect the right to privacy of millions of internet users.

Annually, a substantial number of persons purchase bogus degrees. In some cases, the aim is outright fraud. The buyer believes that the bogus qualification will help him to obtain a better post. And regrettably, in many cases, he is successful. A large number of organisations never check the authenticity of an employee's degrees. Or, if they do, they lack the resources to validate the status of many so‐called qualifications. In some cases, the person perpetrating the fraud can escape undetected for years; but once exposed, the price can be high. Generally the result is dismissal, and possibly a claim from the employer for the refunding of incremental payments which had been conditional upon the possession of a degree. There is also the resultant social scandal.

During the early 1970s the author was instrumental in interesting a number of Members of Parliament in the subject of diploma mills, and the matter reached the floor of the House of Commons on several occasions. Witness the following extracts from Hansard.

John McGee's 1958 paper, “Predatory Price Cutting: The Standard Oil (NJ) Case,” has had an astonishing influence on both antitrust policy in the United States and economic lore. McGee argued that predatory pricing is irrational and his analysis of the Standard Oil Company Matter, decided in 1911, led him to conclude that the Record in this case does not show that Standard Oil engaged in predatory pricing. This single publication appears to serve as a foundation of the U.S. Supreme Court's position on the issue of predatory pricing, as well as the assertion by many economists that predatory pricing is irrational and rarely occurs.

Numerous arguments have been advanced during the past 25 years that predatory pricing can be a rational strategy. As to McGee's empirical findings, there has been no re-examination of the Record of the Standard Oil case to determine the validity of his finding that the trial “Record” does not support the claim that Standard Oil engaged in predatory pricing.

We examined this Record and have found that the trial Record contains considerable evidence of predatory pricing by Standard Oil. Therefore, the Record does not support McGee's conclusion that Standard Oil did not engage in predatory pricing.

Thus, the decisions of the Supreme Court in recent years, as well as the opinions of many economists, concerning predatory pricing are not consistent with either current theory or the empirical record.

In 1880, John Norris, a crusading Philadelphia editor, exposed some of the earliest debasers of American higher education, by buying a set of bogus degrees in medicine, law, and other fields for $455.

I have been rather concerned recently to read of the growing number of bogus degrees available in this country. It is difficult to know just how many degree mills there are, as they tend to spring up overnight and disappear again, but the Department of Education estimates there are between 70 and 80 of them. Two years ago there were 30.

This explorative study aims to investigate work precariousness (WP) among EU27-based economically dependent solo self-employed, i.e. those with no employees and usually relying on just one client.

Univariate and multivariate analyses of European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) (2015) and Eurostat data.

The analyses yielded Disempowerment, intended as lack of job autonomy and money-induced Vulnerability as the dimensions of WP. Disempowerment was found positively influenced by workers' threat of losing the job and negatively by the enjoyment from being their own boss. Vulnerability was negatively influenced by workers' age, perceived easiness to find new customers, household's financial well-being as well as the country's employment rate.

The study represents pioneer exploration of the phenomenon's dimensionality and main determinants.

The topic of consumer complaining has been given limelight in recent years with a spate of food scares, new legislation in the food industry and the Citizen′s Charter in public services. Reports an investigation into complaint handling in the UK grocery market using a bogus complaint letter and a self‐report survey of manufacturers. The two methods produced substantially different results and highlight the degree of response error in self‐report survey research. The research also addressed the question of fraudulent complaints and their detection.