Press Release
Brief Argues Books Settlement Continues Steal From Absent Class Members, Remains Anti-Competitive
WASHINGTON, DC — Consumer Watchdog today filed a brief urging a
federal court to reject the revised Google Books settlement because it
is remains anticompetitive and violates both U.S. and international
law.
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s condemnation of
cyber attacks and censorship is an important endorsement of a free
global Internet, but just as important to ensuring the Internet’s
contribution to democracy and economic growth is a commitment to
consumer privacy, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — In the wake of cyber attacks from China Google has
announced it will improve security for consumers connecting to its
Gmail service over the Internet by encrypting data traveling to its
servers, a move Consumer Watchdog called on the Internet giant to make
more than a year ago.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — Google acted correctly in ending self-censorship of
its Chinese search engine, Google.cn, but the cyber attacks that
prompted the decision demonstrate the company must give American
consumers better security and privacy controls, Consumer Watchdog said
today.
Press Release
Deal To Buy Mobile Advertising Company Is Anti-Competitive And Raises Privacy Concerns
WASHINGTON, DC — Two consumer groups today asked the Federal Trade
Commission to block Google’s $750 million deal to buy AdMob, a mobile
advertising company, on anti-trust grounds. In addition, the groups
said, the proposed acquisition raises privacy concerns that the
Commission must address. In a joint letter to the FTC, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for
Digital Democracy (CDD) said Google is simply buying its way to
dominance in the mobile advertising market, diminishing competition to
the detriment of consumers.
Press Release
Public Policy Should Be Decided In Hearing Room With Sunlight And Transparency, Group Says
SANTA MONICA, CA — Warning that a Democratic Senate Campaign Committee
Fundraiser scheduled to be held at Google’s headquarters in Mountain
View, CA, on Friday created an appearance of a conflict of interest,
Consumer Watchdog called on the seven Senators scheduled to appear not
to attend.
Press Release
Group Calls for ‘Make-Me-Anonymous’ Button On Home Page
SANTA MONICA, CA — The new Google Dashboard touted by the Internet
giant as offering users “transparency, choice and control” of user data
stored by the company doesn’t give consumers adequate control over
protecting their information from Google’s marketing machine, Consumer
Watchdog said today. Consumer Watchdog applauded the company for giving consumers a single
place to go to manage data, but said Google needed to give consumers
the ability to stop being tracked by the company and to delete
information associated with their computer’s IP address from the Google
servers.
Press Release
Project Demands Close Monitoring To Guarantee Citizen’s Privacy Consumer Watchdog Says
Los Angeles, CA — The Los Angeles City Council voted today to move the
city’s 30,000 email users to a system provided by Google, but only
after a provision that the city be compensated if there is security
breach in the data held on Google’s servers.
Press Release
Group Also Releases 3rd Round Of Annotated Google Documents In ‘Charmwatch’ Campaign
SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog today slammed Google for its
apparent hypocrisy in marketing its new "cloud computing" products,
blandly assuring customers that their data is secure on Google Internet
servers but at the same time warning shareholders of the security risks
posed by swift expansion of its commercial online business. The
nonpartisan, nonprofit group sent a letter to a Los Angeles City
Councilman showing that Google says one thing when trying to sell its
products, but something else in federally required filings aimed at
shareholders. Consumer Watchdog also released another round of
annotated Google P.R. documents in its Google “Charmwatch” campaign.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — Arthur D. Levinson, a member of both Google and Apple’s boards, acted correctly in resigning from Google’s board, Consumer Watchdog said today.
"We’re pleased that Arthur Levinson finally realized that…
