Archive | Privacy RSS feed for this section
Blog Post
Google’s Sad LA Saga Draws To A Close
Posted by John M. Simpson
Google’s sad saga of missed deadlines and unfulfilled promises in attempting to provide the City of Los Angeles with a “cloud” based email and collaboration system appears to be drawing to a close.
Continue reading...Blog Post
Pushing for online privacy on the East and West Coasts
Posted by John M. Simpson
4. November 2011
The week began for me at meetings in the heart of geekdom in Silicon Valley and concluded with consumer and privacy advocates meeting in New York City. The two sessions are more related than you might first think. The New York meetings, convened by the Consumer Federation of America, were an off-the-record session for consumer [...]
Continue reading...Blog Post
FTC ‘carefully monitoring’ online tracking
Posted by John M. Simpson
19. August 2011
I just received an encouraging letter from the Federal Trade Commission assuring me that its Division of Privacy and Identity Protection is “carefully monitoring the privacy issues associated with online tracking.” The letter, from Maneesha Mithal, the division’s Associate Director, was in response to our recent complaint about companies who said they would not track [...]
Continue reading...Blog Post
We need a right to be forgotten
Posted by John M. Simpson
12. August 2011
I remember as a young newspaper reporter going to different jurisdictions where public records were kept and putting together background information on an individual. I had to have a compelling reason to do it, because although the records were public, it took considerable effort to gather the information. With the Internet and the advent of [...]
Continue reading...Blog Post
Is Google adding a default security setting?
Posted by John M. Simpson
9. August 2011
One of the dangers of using public Wi-Fi networks at coffee shops and the like is that anybody else on the network can read your email, Facebook postings, search requests and easily hack into your account unless the data is encrypted. The most common is SSL encryption using the HTTPS protocol. If you use it, [...]
Continue reading...Blog Post
Should you believe what Eric Schmidt says or what Google does?
Posted by John M. Simpson
25. July 2011
Actions speak louder than words. That’s why I’m not putting much stock in what Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt says anymore.
Continue reading...Blog Post
Google’s Do Not Track answer doesn’t track
Posted by John M. Simpson
3. June 2011
If you follow a company closely, like I follow Google, there is no better place to remind its executives of your continued interest than the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting. It keeps them on their toes. I own a couple of shares of Google stock, so I headed up to Mountain View Thursday to attend the [...]
Continue reading...Blog Post
Google claims it doesn’t understand what Do Not Track means
Posted by John M. Simpson
23. May 2011
I’ve just seen what has to be the lamest excuse ever to come out of the Googleplex. Apparently Google hasn’t implemented a Do Not Track mechanism on its Chrome browser, because, according to one of the Internet Giant’s top privacy lawyers, Keith Enright, the geeks in Mountain View “need more granularity and a more reasonable [...]
Continue reading...Blog Post
Senate “tussle” is good for privacy
Posted by John M. Simpson
19. May 2011
There can’t be anything better than having legislators compete to answer popular demand for better privacy protection. Hauling tech executives in and asking them to explain themselves never hurts. Twice in two weeks is even better.
Continue reading...Blog Post
Sen. Blumenthal demands answers on Wi-Fi privacy
Posted by John M. Simpson
18. May 2011
The forty-state probe by attorneys general slowed after then Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was elected to the U.S. Senate, but he clearly hasn’t dropped his concerns. In a letter this week to the chief executives of Microsoft, Google, Apple, Research in Motion, Skyhook Wireless and Nokia, Blumenthal writes that widespread use of smartphones “raises [...]
Continue reading...Blog Post
New book explains why you can’t trust Google
Posted by John M. Simpson
8. May 2011
Nobody can doubt the pervasive influence Google has in our daily lives. For most people the Internet giant has become the primary gateway to the Web. No doubt many of its services are useful, but what is the real impact of a company whose audacious mission is ” to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful?” Scott Cleland has been doing some serious thinking about Google. His book, “Search & Destroy: Why You Can’t Trust Google Inc,” is the result.
Continue reading...Blog Post
France Fines Google Over Wi-Spy
Posted by John M. Simpson
21. March 2011
France’s privacy watchdog has just fined Google 100,000 euros ($142,000) as a result of the Internet giant’s Wi-Spy activities. It may not be a lot to a company whose worldwide annual sales are around $25 billion a year, but it’s the biggest fine the regulator has issued.
Continue reading...Blog Post
Cause For Concern About Washington’s Privacy Drive
Posted by John M. Simpson
16. March 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...
Video Player
Consumer Watchdog’s Carmen Balber discusses Internet privacy and the need for an online “Do Not Track Me” list.
Become an Insider
- Watch our new Times Square video: Don't Be Evil?
- Google using search engine to muscle into Internet businesses, study finds
- Can Google explain this search result?
- We have taken the “Do Not Track Me” fight to Times Square!
- You can take action now...
- Dr Janice Duffy: Good on you for calling Google out on this issue. ...
- Panama corporation: The Dublin subsidiary which employs almost 2 000 p...
- Janice: I am not sure but I think I have experienced the s...
- Bob: Yeah, analytics must be a separate company. It's ...
- Bob: I think you guys should start a forum so people ca...
Donate Today
Note: clicking the link will take you to our partner page.
13. December 2011