John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog welcomed the FTC settlement but said Google "needs to be punished and feel pain on its bottom line. Nothing will completely stop Google from invading users' privacy until it gets hit where it hurts, its bank accounts," Simpson said.
Continue reading...Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The strong buzz in Washington, DC is that Google CEO Eric Schmidt is President Obama's top choice for Commerce Secretary and an appointment is coming soon. The CEO who made billions collecting our personal information online and serving us up to advertisers, the guy who created online privacy problems, would head the federal agency responsible for developing and executing the administration's online privacy policies.
Continue reading...Wednesday, March 30, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC — Consumer Watchdog praised the Federal Trade Commission for requiring Google to submit to privacy audits for the next twenty years, but said the Internet giant should also face monetary penalties for its abuses. The nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group also called for government action to curtail Google’s anti-competitive practices.
Continue reading...Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Google hasn’t exactly made life easy for itself by already scanning millions of books. John M. Simpson, director of the privacy project for the non-profit California-based Consumer Watchdog group, supports the digitization of the world’s books, but says, “Google’s entire business model is to never ask permission, but to seek forgiveness if necessary. Judge Chin has ruled simply that you can’t take other people’s property and use it without asking.”
Continue reading...Tuesday, March 22, 2011
John Simpson of settlement opponent Consumer Watchdog said the ruling "should send the message to the engineers at the Googleplex that the next time they want to use someone's intellectual property, they need to ask permission."
Continue reading...Friday, March 18, 2011
Consumer Watchdog, well-known for its opposition of Google — and Schmidt in particular — issued a release Thursday in opposition to a possible appointment. The group also sent a letter to Obama asking him not to nominate Schmidt for the position. “Putting Eric Schmidt in charge of policing online privacy is like appointing Bernie Madoff to direct the Securities Exchange Commission,” the release said.
Continue reading...Thursday, March 17, 2011
Frequent Google critic Consumer Watchdog sent a letter to the White House on Thursday blasting reports that outgoing Google chief executive Eric Schmidt is being considered to replace Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
Continue reading...Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Obama Administration threw its weight behind privacy legislation Wednesday as Assistant Commerce Secretary Lawrence Strickling testified before the Senate Commerce Committee about online privacy. Clearly Washington is focusing on privacy issues, but will meaningful consumer protections be enacted? There is cause for concern.
Continue reading...Wednesday, March 16, 2011
It took a lawsuit from Rosetta Stone, the language software company, and a Congressional hearing, but Google apparently has finally been embarrassed into taking responsibility for policing some shady ads on its search engine site.
Continue reading...Wednesday, March 16, 2011
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A "multi-stakeholder process" to develop online privacy codes advocated today by the Obama Administration runs the risk of being dominated by industry and failing to protect consumers if it is not organized in a fair and balanced manner, six public interest groups warned. The groups include Consumer Watchdog, The Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Action, U.S. PIRG and the World Privacy Forum.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
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