Archive | September, 2010
News Clipping
Google Called Chicken for Dodging Privacy Debate
By Byron Acohido , USA TODAY
The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is broadcasting Jumbotron video ads all this week in the heart of New York’s Times Square to mock Google as a big chicken for dodging a privacy debate.
Press Release
New Times Square ad targets Google for failure to debate privacy
CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-7041, Cell: 310-292-1902
29. September 2010
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog has placed a digital advertisement in Times Square calling Internet giant Google “chicken” for its failure to accept the public interest group’s challenge to debate measures to protect consumers’ online privacy. The ad is running during “AdWeek” in New York City, at which Google has a major presence.
Blog Post
Google continues buying binge, maintains image as innovator
Posted by John M. Simpson
28. September 2010
Internet giant Google is leading led the tech sector in acquisitions buying almost twice the number of companies as second place IBM. The data, compiled by CB insights, shows Google has announced 23 acquisitions through Sept. 24 compared to IBM’s 12
Blog Post
Google solidifies link with Pentagon ‘combat support’ agency
Posted by Margot Williams
28. September 2010
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) announced today that it intends to award Google a $27 million sole source contract for visualization technology, the largest known contract between the Internet firm and a national security agency.
Blog Post
As governments tap user data, Google transparency lags
Posted by Margot Williams
22. September 2010
Amidst a surge in governmental requests for private user data, Google’s openness effort is lagging, as the release of Google’s second transparency report shows. The report, released Tuesday, is a welcome sign of the search engine’s commitment to openness, but it is not a big improvement over the initial report last April.
Blog Post
Promise of ad industry self-regulation falls flat
Posted by Carmen Balber
21. September 2010
I was at Google’s DC headquarters yesterday afternoon for the first event of AdWeek 2010 – the advertising industry’s annual conference in DC. I don’t know if one company always dominates the event, but this year seems to be an all-Google affair. As the only advertiser that’s a “platinum sponsor,” Google hosted, sat on, or was the topic of five panels — more indication that Google is king in the online ad world.
Blog Post
Three reasons to turn off creepy Google Instant (and how to do it)
Posted by Margot Williams
20. September 2010
Google Instant is not for me. When I search, I don’t want Google to know where I am or what I like or to tell me things it thinks I am interested in. I don’t want a for-profit corporation to be what Sergey Brin wants Google to be – “the third half of your brain.”
News Clipping
Dear Google: Do Not Track Me
By Emily Badger , THE IDEA LOBBY BLOG (Miller-McCune Magazine)
17. September 2010
“That’s kind of a fundamental human right,” argued John Simpson, an advocate with Consumer Watchdog. “The books that people have been taking out of the library are not something that’s shared, and librarians have fought to maintain that. Generally, you can’t go in and say, ‘What’s my wife been reading on her library card? What’s my son been reading on our library card?’ It’s private. In the same way, the Internet is a great source of information, and people ought to be able to consider that their activity online is private in the same way. The fact of the matter is that it’s not right now.”
Press Release
Google engineer’s privacy problems should spur Internet giant to answer four key questions about users’ privacy, Consumer Watchdog says
CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-7041, or cell: 310-292-1902
16. September 2010
SANTA MONICA, CA — The consumer group that recently launched a popular online animated satire of Google’s privacy problems embodied in an ice cream truck said the revelation that a Google engineer tracked children down shows that private information is never safe if it is in Google’s hands. Consumer Watchdog called on Google to publicly answer some basic questions about how effectively it protects consumers’ privacy.
Blog Post
Engineer’s abuse validates ice cream truck video; Google needs to answer questions
Posted by John M. Simpson
15. September 2010
Sometimes satire becomes more true than anyone ever could imagine happening. News this week shows our video touted in Times Square and viewed more than 330,000 times is right on the mark. CEO Eric Schmidt is driving the Google ice cream truck and an engineer in the back has been invading kids’ privacy.
Blog Post
Rogue engineers flout Google privacy rules
Posted by Margot Williams
15. September 2010
Google has fired an engineer for accessing the user accounts of four minors, according Gawker media. David Barksdale stalked and spied upon the teenagers while working as a Site Reliability Engineer at Google’s Kirkland, WA, office. Google told Tech Crunch this is the second time it has fired an engineer for privacy violations.
Press Release
Consumer Watchdog Invites Google To Participate In Internet Policy Conference
CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-7041, Cell: 310-292-1902
14. September 2010
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today invited Google to participate in a conference, “Google, The Internet And The Future,” that the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group plans to host in Washington this fall as part of its Inside Google project. The invitation came in a letter to CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. It was prompted by Google’s promotional campaign this week in Washington highlighting its privacy tools and a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition hearing Thursday on competition in digital markets.
Blog Post
Google OKs critical ads after Consumer Watchdog’s letter to CEO Eric Schmidt
Posted by John M. Simpson
10. September 2010
Google has now decided to run ads from Consumer Watchdog critical of the Internet giant’s privacy practices and aimed to promote a satirical animated video of CEO Eric Schmidt. Thursday Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court and I wrote Schmidt arguing that the company had a moral obligation to display advertising from critics.
Video Player
Consumer Watchdog’s Carmen Balber discusses Internet privacy and the need for an online “Do Not Track Me” list.
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30. September 2010