Inside Google

Google Well Poised To Privatize The Web

Staff Writers

Consumer Watchdog is calling for ICANN to keep a close eye on enormous corporations such as Google and Amazon, and to reject applications made to buy new Top Level Domains (TLDs) in bulk.

Self-Driving Cars Now Legal In California

Heather Kelly

Consumer Watchdog, a consumer-rights group, has expressed reservations about the cars on privacy grounds, saying they would allow Google to gather personal information about passengers.

California Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Driverless Car Law

Mike Rosenberg

Consumer groups charge Google and other companies are really only interested in using the on-board computers to track people’s movements like on the Web.

Calif. Gives Driverless Cars Go-Ahead

James Temple

Another lingering concern about driverless cars is privacy. The machines will have to collect and store certain information about a person’s movements as part of their basic functioning, as well as to improve their performance over time. Because of pressure from privacy advocates, the law requires manufacturers to provide written disclosures describing the data collected. But John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project, says that doesn’t go far enough.

Jerry Brown Signs Driverless Car Bill

David Siders

Opponents of the bill included the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Consumer Watchdog. Automakers have raised liability concerns, while Consumer Watchdog argued Google’s driverless cars should not be allowed on California roads until privacy protections are in place.

Proposed Google Settlement is Inadequate: Consumer Watchdog

Ed Silverstein

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.

Advocacy Group Urges Court To Reject Google’s ‘Miniscule’ $22.5M Privacy Settlement

Wendy Davis

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.

White House May Try Cybersecurity End Run

Richard Adhikari

“It is clear that we do need better protection of vulnerable networks,” John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog, told TechNewsWorld. “Congress was unable to act, so I suppose the Administration is taking steps.” He cautioned, however, that he had not seen a copy of the draft order.

Microsoft Launches Google-Is-Evil Campaign Targeted At Safari Users

Preston Gralla

Google never admitted it violated any FTC regulations, although it did agree to pay the fine. The group ConsumerWatchdog.org criticized the settlement because it felt the fine wasn’t large enough, and because Google never had to admit it did anything wrong. John Simpson, director of the privacy project at ConsumerWatchdog.org said, “This is letting Google buy its way out of trouble.”

Group Asks Senator To Oppose Google, Amazon gTLD Purchases

Grant Gross

The large number of applications from the two companies would make the Internet ‘privatized,’ Consumer Watchdog says

A consumer group, citing concerns about the creation of a new, private Internet, has asked a senior U.S. senator to help block Google and Amazon.com from buying dozens of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).