Blog Post
Posted by John M. Simpson
Google apparently is ending an egregious privacy breach involving people who buy apps from its Google Play store using Google Wallet to pay. Consumer Watchdog filed a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission with a copy to California Attorney General Kamala Harris about what Google was doing. The complaint alleged that the Internet giant was violating its privacy policies and its "Buzz" consent agreement with the FTC.
Continue reading...Blog Post
Posted by John M. Simpson
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder, is getting a little bit of ink for his suggestion that all politicians elected today quit their parties and "govern as independents in name and in spirit."
Continue reading...Blog Post
Posted by John M. Simpson
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Signs that Google will soon face strong antitrust action on both sides of the Atlantic are increasing with a report Thursday from Bloomberg News Service that the the Federal Trade Commission staff has recommended that the Internet giant be sued for unfairly blocking competitors' access to smartphone-technology patents.
Continue reading...News Clipping
By Wendy Davis , ONLINE MEDIA DAILY
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Consumer Watchdog challenges that $4 million figure. "The government has not given this court any insight into how it made its calculations," the organization argues, adding that it needs more evidence from Google in order to determine the extent of profits from the workaround.
Continue reading...News Clipping
By Alexei Alexis , BLOOMBERG BNA
Monday, October 29, 2012
“I think Romney would let the effort die,” said John Simpson, privacy project director for Consumer Watchdog, a Washington-based public interest group. “He's an advocate of less regulation on business, so I don't see much hope that he would be would be concerned about privacy.”
Continue reading...News Clipping
By Martyn Williams , PCWORLD.COM
Sunday, October 28, 2012
While the FTC and Google came up with the settlement, it needs to be approved by a judge, which is what next month's hearing is about. Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group that has been critical of Google's privacy measures, will argue that the court should not sign off on the deal.
Continue reading...Press Release
CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-7041
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
SANTA MONICA, CA -- Google and Facebook continued to pump money into their Washington lobbying efforts in the third quarter with the Internet giant spending its second most amount in one quarter while the social networking company spent its most ever for one quarter. “Google and Facebook would have you believe that they are different from other corporations,” said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project director. “They are not. They are following the corrupt corporate tradition in Washington: buying what you want.”
Continue reading...News Clipping
By Kevin Shalvey , INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
John Simpson, of Consumer Watchdog, a group critical of Google, says in a statement that Google acted with "complete disregard" for users' privacy. "I am glad the European Union is calling out their abuses, but am disappointed that American consumers must look across the Atlantic to see privacy rights defended," Simpson said.
Continue reading...News Clipping
By Graeme Burton , COMPUTING
Thursday, October 4, 2012
"Google has demonstrated an ability to out-maneuver government regulators repeatedly and ride roughshod over the privacy rights of consumers. Google continues to be disingenuous about its practices," says John Simpson, privacy project director at US organization Consumer Watchdog.
Continue reading...Blog Post
Posted by John M. Simpson
Monday, October 1, 2012
One of the things you hear when companies try to minimize the impact of privacy violations is an attempt to claim there was no financial harm to consumers. However, in an interesting development the Federal Trade Commission is now publicly estimating that Google's hack around Apple's Safari browser privacy settings earned the Internet giant up to $ 4 million.
Continue reading...News Clipping
By Ed Silverstein , TECHZONE360.COM
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Consumer Watchdog has criticized the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s proposed $22.5-million fine that Google might pay in connection with privacy settings on Apple’s Safari browser.
Continue reading...News Clipping
By Wendy Davis , ONLINE MEDIA DAILY
Monday, September 24, 2012
A deal that calls for Google to pay a $22.5 million civil penalty for tracking Safari users should be rejected, Consumer Watchdog argues in new court papers. "The proposed settlement is markedly unusual and deficient," the organization says in papers filed on Friday with U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco.
Continue reading...Press Release
CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-7041 or cell: 310-292-1902
Monday, September 24, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO – The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed $22.5 million settlement with Google for hacking past privacy settings on Apple’s Safari browser fails to include a permanent injunction against violating its “Buzz” Consent Decree with the Commission, one of three reasons it be should be rejected, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Continue reading...
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
0 Comments