Inside Google

Press Release

Group Welcomes Sen. Grassley’s Probe Of Google’s Use Of NASA Airfield

CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-0522 x317

Consumer Watchdog Report Revealed How Google Bases Jet Fleet At Moffett Field

SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog today welcomed an investigation by Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa) into Google’s use of NASA’s Moffett Federal Airfield in Santa Clara County, California, near Google headquarters.

News Clipping

FTC Preparing to Fine Google Millions for Safari Privacy Breach

By David Angott , SEARCH ENGINE JOURNAL

John M. Simpson, the director at the Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project, expressed support for the FTC taking strong action against Google.

Press Release

FTC Appears Ready To Fine Google Millions For iPad, iPhone Privacy Breach

CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-0522 x317

Consumer Watchdog Complained To Commission After Hack Was Discovered

SANTA MONICA, CA – The Federal Trade Commission appears ready to fine Google millions of dollars for hacking around privacy settings on iPhones and iPads. Consumer Watchdog filed a complaint in February with the FTC after Stanford Researcher Jonathan Mayer revealed what the Internet giant was doing.

News Clipping

Google Wi-Spy Scandal Heats Up

By James R. Hood , THE FULTON SUN

Now Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit advocacy group in California, has filed a Freedom of Information Act Request with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking all documents related to the Commission’s investigation of the Google “Wi-Spy” scandal. The FCC recently fined Google $25,000 for willfully obstructing the FCC’s investigation into how Google’s Street View cars gathered “payload data” from private Wi-Fi networks.

News Clipping

Google Street View Controversy Continues to Roil

By Jeffrey Burt , eWEEK.COM

A consumer advocacy group wants all the documents connected with the FCC’s investigation, while some European regulators may give the Google program a new look.

News Clipping

Feds Wondered Who Funded Push To Probe Google

By Jim McElhatton , THE WASHINGTON TIMES

An official with Consumer Watchdog, which has been a frequent and sharp critic of Google, said despite the speculation, the organization does not receive funding from the search engine’s competitors — Microsoft, Yahoo or Facebook. “I don’t know why they would have speculated about that,” said John M. Simpson, privacy director for Consumer Watchdog. “They could have just called and asked.”

Press Release

Consumer Watchdog Files FOIA Request Seeking All Documents In FCC’s Investigation Of Google Wi-Spy Scandal

CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-0522 x317

SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today filed a Freedom Of Information Act Request with the Federal Communications Commission seeking all documents related to the Commission’s investigation of the Google Wi-Spy scandal.

News Clipping

FCC Reveals New Twist In Google ‘Street View’ Case

By Alexei Alexis , BLOOMBERG BNA

The new revelations have prompted Consumer Watchdog, a Washington-based advocacy group, to call for a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, which is chaired by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.).

News Clipping

Street View Engineer Warned Google in 2007

By Chris Burns , SLASHGEAR.COM

A letter written by John Simpson, privacy project director for the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog on the 30th of April spoke on this subject. It was addressed to Senator Al Franken, a proponent of getting Google to reveal what they’d actually collected here before, saying that wished Franken to grant Engineer Doe immunity from prosecution. If indeed the engineer at hand were granted immunity, he would be much more likely to testify in the case which was, as Simpson claims, “the largest wiretapping effort in history.” Simpson wanted Franken and the rest of the world to know the dangers in this situation.

News Clipping

Google’s Street View ‘Engineer Doe’ Identified

By Jeffrey Burt , eWEEK.COM

In a letter April 30, John Simpson, privacy project director for the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, urged Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, to conduct hearings into “the Google Wi-Spy incident that will finally get to the bottom of what was the largest wiretapping effort in history.” Simpson urged Franken to grant Engineer Doe immunity from prosecution so that he can testify and to call Google CEO Larry Page to testify.

News Clipping

AT&T, Google Among Top Lobbying Spenders in First Quarter

By Grant Gross , PCWORLD.COM

Google critic Consumer Watchdog said the company’s increased lobbying expenses show it has bought into the “corrupt Washington power game. “Google claims its motto is, ‘don’t be evil,’ but the amount of cash they are throwing around demonstrates an astounding cynicism,” John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project director, said in an email.

Press Release

Consumer Watchdog Calls For Senate Hearing on Google Wi-Spy Scandal

CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-0522, x317

Urges ‘Engineer Doe’ Be Given Immunity For Testifying About His Role
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today called for a Senate hearing into the Google Wi-Spy scandal and urged that a key figure known in a Federal Communications Commission report as “Engineer Doe” be granted immunity from prosecution in return for his testimony.

Press Release

Consumer Watchdog Says Google’s Record Lobbying Tab Shows Astounding Cynicism

CONTACT: Jamie Court , (310) 392-0522 ext. 327; or Carmen Balber ext. 308

Internet Giant’s Expenses Soar 240 Percent, Topping $5.03 Million In 1st Quarter

WASHINGTON DC — Google continues to pump record amounts into its effort to influence federal legislators and policymakers, spending $5.03 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2012, a 240 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago, according to new disclosures filed with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.