Archive | February, 2009
Google Rates Its Own Washington Watchdog
Since winning the grant last August, Consumer Watchdog has challenged Google
privacy practices related to its Gmail electronic mail program and its
Chrome Web browser. Last month, the group accused Google of lobbying
Congress to weaken privacy protections for medical records stored in
its Google Health program. “Their business model is incompatible with privacy,” says Jamie Court, Consumer Watchdog’s president.
Google Executive Apologizes Over Email To Consumer Watchdog Donor
Lincoln Spector and Ian Lamont
23. February 2009
Bob Boorstin, Google’s Director of Corporate and Policy Communications,
issued a statement on Monday apologizing for sending information about
Consumer Watchdog to The Rose Foundation. Earlier on Monday, Consumer
Watchdog published the text of an email that Boorstin sent to the
foundation on February 9, in which he asked it to consider withdrawing
funding. Boorstin cited Consumer Watchdog’s campaign to highlight
Google’s alleged lobbying activities on Capitol Hill.
Consumer Privacy Advocates Seek Search Engine Solution
19. February 2009
No
one knows more about us—our ailments, significant others, favorite
music, what we’re thinking about buying, and how much we spend—than our
search engines. Virtually all search engines gather information about
how searchers query, what they click, and where they wind up. This
personal information (i.e., IP addresses, cookies, session IDs) is
stored alongside queries for anywhere between 90 days and forever. "I
think most users simply don’t realize the amount of personal
information they provide," says John M. Simpson, a consumer policy
advocate with the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog.
Availability Of Online Health Records Sparks Privacy Concerns
16. February 2009
Consumer advocacy groups, such as Patient Privacy Rights (PPR) and
Consumer Watchdog, warn that such online records could pose a threat to
patients’ health privacy rights. PPR says the most recent health IT
portion of the Senate version of the economic stimulus bill intoduces
loopholes that allow the sale and misuse of personal health information.
Consumer Watchdog To Google: Publicly Disclose Your Lobbying Positions On Electronic Medical Record Provisions In Stimulus Bill
2. February 2009
Santa Monica, CA — A national consumer group today called upon Google
to publicly disclose its lobbying positions on the electronic medical
record provisions of the financial stimulus legislation given a new
account by an independent journalist that Google’s presence on the bill
was felt on Capitol Hill.
23. February 2009