An anti-Google video is running on a billboard in Times Square, criticizing the search company on privacy issues. The 15-second cartoon depicts Chief Executive Eric Schmidt as an ice cream peddler with the text, "He's collecting your personal information." The nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, based in Santa Monica, Calif., is running the $25,000 campaign on a 560-square-foot CBS Jumbotron in Times Square. The video will air 36 times a day, in between promos for the TV show "CSI," until Oct. 15.
Continue reading...Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Made wary by the Google Wi-Fi scandal, privacy advocates are concerned. Part of the problem is that there's so little public awareness of what's going on, said John Simpson, an advocate with Consumer Watchdog, a group that's been highly critical of Google in the past. "If I buy a cell phone, do I expect to be mapping people's Wi-Fi locations for the company that sold me the phone?" he asked. "My answer to that is I'd kind of be taken aback. Part of the problem with this technology is that people just don't know what's going on," he added.
Continue reading...Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The animated creation portrays Google CEO Eric Schmidt as a creepy old dude riding around in an ice cream truck offering up free treats to little kids. The high-tech vehicle conducts body scans of the children to capture their personal information and “Schmidt” shares news with the little ones about their parents' web surfing habits. According to Consumer Watchdog, they are hoping the video will encourage people to create a “Do Not Track Me” list that will prevent Internet companies from invading consumers' privacy (just like the “Do Not Call” lists).
Continue reading...Friday, September 3, 2010
Rabid Consumer Watchdog Attacks Google CEO Consumer Watchdog has created quite a stir with its Times Square jumbotron attack ad depicting Google CEO Eric Schmidt as a child predator. The so-called lampoon is designed to provoke outrage against Google's perceived privacy intrusions, but some viewers may find the privacy group's tactics even more outrageous. Consumer Watchdog's Simpson shrugged off such criticism. "Sometimes, as an advocate, you want to focus attention on an issue -- and if someone calls you crazy, then you put on your thick skin and smile, because that means they are focusing on the issue," he said. "As long as people are talking about the issue seriously, we are happy."
Continue reading...Friday, September 3, 2010
Imagine wandering through Times Square and seeing a 60-foot-tall animation depicting you (yes, you) as a creepy child-baiting ice cream truck driver. How would you feel? That's probably the question Google's Eric Schmidt is being asked today.
Continue reading...Thursday, September 2, 2010
Picture a 540-square-foot animated ad, a cartoon video mocking Google's CEO Eric Schmidt; now picture it running twice an hour, 36 times per day, in New York's Times Square. Consumer Watchdog has launched a huge and very public campaign against Google, highlighting its concerns over Google's privacy policies and the need for Congress to enact a national 'Do Not Track Me' list. The massive cartoon digital advertisement is titled “Don’t Be Evil?” The avatar-style animation features Schmidt driving an ice cream truck and offering "free" ice cream while he secretly spies on children.
Continue reading...Thursday, September 2, 2010
Consumer Watchdog, a consumer group, has long been critical of Google and some of the comments that Eric Schmidt, the company’s chief executive, has made about privacy online.
Continue reading...Thursday, September 2, 2010
Consumer Watchdog has launched a rather unique effort in its bid to highlight its concerns over Google's privacy policies and to push Congress to allow consumers to opt out of having their Web activities tracked by online firms.
Continue reading...Thursday, September 2, 2010
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog’s InsideGoogle.com has taken its online privacy campaign to New York’s Times Square, where it has purchased a 540 sq. ft. Jumbotron digital advertisement promoting an animated video satirizing Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s attitude toward consumer privacy.
Continue reading...Wednesday, August 11, 2010
A Wall Street Journal article this week details how Google is increasingly moving to maximize profits from the vast amount of personal data it has amassed in its global network of servers at the expense of consumers' privacy. Google chairman Eric Schmidt once claimed Google put its money "where our principles are." The Journal's revealing article showing how profits triumph over privacy demonstrates the stark reality: Google puts its principles where the money is.
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Wednesday, September 8, 2010
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