Inside Google

Privacy Groups Press US Congress For Online Safeguards

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of consumer advocate and privacy groups on Tuesday urged the US
Congress to protect the public from intrusive and often secretive tracking of their online activities and identity.

Google Praised For Agreeing To Improve E-mail Security

Consumer Watchdog praised Google on Tuesday for agreeing to offer improved
security for users of its online e-mail services like Gmail.

Press Release

Google Receives Federal Request For Book Settlement Info

The U.S. Justice Department is reportedly investigating Google’s
digital books settlement with publishers, which Google claims will make
millions of volumes accessible to all but which has critics crying
antitrust issues. Google’s books project has run into opposition from a
number of groups, including Consumer Watchdog, arguing that it gives the search engine company too
much control over content with little oversight.

Consumer Groups Challenge Obama’s Appointment Of Google Executive

Two consumer groups are seeking to throw a roadblock in front
of President Obama’s pending appointment of Google’s top global public
policy official, arguing that it would violate Obama’s ethics rules
aimed at eliminating the influence of lobbyists on the federal
government.

John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog, said
McLaughlin is good at what he does – "lobbying around the world for
Google’s interests," he said. "That’s not what this job requires. It
should not go to any person whose most recent position has been
advocating policy for a technology company," he said.

Press Release

Google University of Michigan Sign Digital Library Oversight Agreement

Google attracted more negative attention than perhaps it bargained for
with its goal to digitize the world’s libraries. In April 2009, a
nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, Consumer Watchdog, wrote a
letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking the government to
examine the settlement between Google, The Author’s Guild, and the
Association of American Publishers (AAP). That settlement, Consumer Watchdog argued, deserved to be placed under
government review because it gave Google the same financial terms of
digital-book rights as any future competitor.

Press Release

Google Book Search Changes Slammed by Librarians

In early April 2009, a nonprofit watchdog group, Consumer Watchdog, had called upon the Justice Department to examine the ramifications of Google’s plan to scan so-called "orphan books," which are volumes still under copyright but whose rights-holders cannot be found, into its growing library of digital text. An advocate for the group argued in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder that such a deal would need to be reviewed to ensure that it had sufficient consumer protections.

Google Book Scans Lead to Department of Justice Call

Google’s recent and far-flung attempt to digitize the world’s "orphan"
books, or out-of-print tomes that remain under copyright but whose
rights-holders cannot be found, may soon hit a roadblock in the form of
the U.S. Department of Justice, at least if a consumer group gets its
wish. John Simpson, a consumer advocate for Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit
consumer advocacy organization, wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder asking the government to intervene in Google’s recent
settlement with The Authors Guild and the Association of American
Publishers (AAP).

Consumer Watchdog: Google Made First Political Contributions

California campaign disclosures show that Google, which has had issues from privacy advocates and government regulators, made what appears to be the first political contributions to elected officials in the company’s history.