Press Release
Google’s Anticompetitive Tactics Will Be Topic At Group’s Conference Wednesday
WASHINGTON — Consumer Watchdog today welcomed the European Union’s antitrust investigation of Google and reiterated its call for the the U.S. Justice Department to launch its own investigation of the Internet giant.
Press Release
CEO Schmidt Should Go To Washington Under Oath
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today asked the House Energy and Commerce Committee to hold hearings into Google’s Wi-Spying because a ranking employee of the Internet giant gave testimony that contradicted known facts about the company’s massive privacy invasion.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog today praised a coalition of state attorneys general led by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal for continuing an investigation into Google’s Wi-Spying scandal in the wake of the Federal Trade Commission halting its probe earlier this week.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — The Federal Trade Commission’s two-page letter ending its probe of the Google Wi-Spy scandal is premature and wrong, Consumer Watchdog said today, and leaves the American public with no official full account of the Internet giant’s repeated invasions of consumer privacy.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog welcomed three new steps Google said it is implementing to protect consumers’ privacy in response to the Wi-Spying scandal, but challenged the Internet giant to prove the measures are more than a public relations ploy.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — Google increased its spending on lobbying 11 percent over the previous year to $1.2 million in the third quarter demonstrating the Internet giant’s willingness to spend to shape federal policy, Consumer Watchdog said today. In the comparable quarter a year ago Google spent $1.08 million. A key to Google’s lobbying effort is its well-connected Washington staff, the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group said.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — The Canadian Privacy Commissioner’s announcement today that Google’s Wi-Spying with its Street View cars broke the law demonstrates the need for U.S. Congressional hearings into the scandal, Consumer Watchdog said. According to Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart: “Our investigation shows that Google did capture personal information – and, in some cases, highly sensitive personal information such as complete e-mails. This incident was a serious violation of Canadians’ privacy rights.
Press Release
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.
Press Release
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.
Press Release
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.
