Tag Archive | "executives"
A Reassured F.T.C. Ends Google Street View Inquiry
Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group, called the F.T.C.’s decision “premature and wrong. Once again, Google, with its myriad of government connections, gets a free pass,” John M. Simpson, director of the group’s Inside Google Project, said in a statement.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Tells Google To Prove New Privacy Commitment — Changing Wi-Spy Story Makes It Difficult To Believe Measures Are Serious
Friday, October 22, 2010
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.
Continue reading...Google increases spending on lobbying to $1.2 million
Thursday, October 21, 2010
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.
Continue reading...Dear Google: Do Not Track Me
Friday, September 17, 2010
“That’s kind of a fundamental human right,” argued John Simpson, an advocate with Consumer Watchdog. “The books that people have been taking out of the library are not something that’s shared, and librarians have fought to maintain that. Generally, you can’t go in and say, ‘What’s my wife been reading on her library card? What’s my son been reading on our library card?’ It’s private. In the same way, the Internet is a great source of information, and people ought to be able to consider that their activity online is private in the same way. The fact of the matter is that it’s not right now."
Continue reading...Google engineer’s privacy problems should spur Internet giant to answer four key questions about users’ privacy, Consumer Watchdog says
Thursday, September 16, 2010
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.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Invites Google To Participate In Internet Policy Conference
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
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.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog To Google CEO: Berlin Comments At Odds With Personal Privacy And Orwellian; Search Ads For Animation Critical Of Google Should Be Seen On Google
Thursday, September 9, 2010
SANTA MONICA, CA -- New comments by Google CEO Eric Schmidt in Berlin show the top executive of the Internet giant fails “to recognize that the direction Google is currently heading is inexorably at odds with the notion of personal privacy,” Consumer Watchdog said today. Schmidt said, among other things, “We can suggest what you should do next, what you care about. Imagine: we know where you are, we know what you like.”
Continue reading...Anti-Google Video Ad On Privacy Running In Times Square
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
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...After Google Incident, Wi-Fi Data Collection Goes On
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...Consumer Watchdog Hopes To Lick Google
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).
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Wednesday, October 27, 2010
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