Archive | May, 2010
Google Admits Wi-Fi Data Blunder
John Simpson, from the Consumer Watchdog, told the BBC: “The problem is [Google] have a bunch of engineers who push the envelope and gather as much information as they can and don’t think about the ramifications of that.”
Continue reading...Google Blasted for ‘Alarming’ Privacy Breaches
15. May 2010
Consumer Watchdog, a group that has become one of Google’s most outspoken critics, renewed its call for a regulatory crackdown Friday. “Once again, Google has demonstrated a lack of concern for privacy,” said Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson. “Its computer engineers run amok, push the envelope and gather whatever data they can until their fingers are caught in the cookie jar.”
Continue reading...Google’s WiFi Debacle Shows Internet Giant’s Lack of Concern for Consumers’ Privacy
14. May 2010
An admission today that Google’s StreetView cars were gathering private information from WiFi networks shows the company’s lack of concern for privacy and the need for government inspection of the data the company is collecting and storing, Consumer Watchdog said.
Continue reading...Google Admits Vacuuming Up Data from Wi-Fi Networks, Apologizes
14. May 2010
“Here they are just out and out snooping in neighborhoods and spying on people,” said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, a frequent Google critic who questioned whether Google violated wiretapping laws.
Continue reading...Few Hardballs from Shareholders at Google’s Annual Meeting
14. May 2010
Perhaps the toughest shareholder question came from consumer advocate John Simpson, who asked Schmidt whether Google had agreed to a reported $700 million “kill fee” if Google’s $750 million acquisition of the mobile advertising company AdMob is rejected by government antitrust regulators. Schmidt neither confirmed or denied that number, but predicted the deal would be approved by the Federal Trade Commission, which is expected to rule in coming days.
Continue reading...Google’s Growth Markets Include Lobbying
13. May 2010
Those numbers might have gone unnoticed if not for a handful of critics who fear Google is becoming too dominant in its markets and is seeking to become too influential in Washington, D.C. Perhaps chief among those critics is John Simpson, a consumer advocate at the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. Simpson says he would like to see the Justice Department launch a broad antitrust investigation of Google.
Continue reading...Google change shuts Scroogle, but alternative search engine returns
12. May 2010
Consumers worried about the data Google amasses about them as they use the Internet giant’s search engine have used a service called Scroogle.org. This week the nonprofit service was abruptly disrupted, prompting questions about whether Google deliberately targeted the operation.
Continue reading...Google’s Schmidt passes the buck on privacy
12. May 2010
With the classic timing of those who want to downplay bad news, Google responded late Friday afternoon to a letter of complaint issued by ten countries last month about the misfired rollout of the Google Buzz social networking application when Google exposed Gmail users’ personal e-mail contacts to the online world without user consent.
Continue reading...We’re number one… or not. The vagaries of Google’s search engine.
12. May 2010
As we ready Inside Google, now in “Beta” mode, for its formal launch I’ve been checking various search engines to see where the site ranks. Today Google put me at number one.
Continue reading...Can Google explain this search result?
10. May 2010
As we have been putting Consumer Watchdog’s new Inside Google Website through its paces while it’s still in “Beta” mode, I discovered an example of exactly the sort thing Google needs to explain.
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15. May 2010