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Online advertisers and privacy advocates generally agree that Do Not Track options should be available on Web browsers. However, there’s much debate about whether DNT should be opt-in or opt-out. “The privacy-friendly thing is to have DNT on by default,” said Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson. But advertisers say turning on DNT by default would essentially deprive consumers of choice.

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Consumer Watchdog, which has long dogged Google on its data gathering practices, asked the committee to include language restricting the operators of the robotic cars to only gathering data that is necessary to run the car. The bill’s analysis said it was difficult to define what data is necessary to run the car, but called for companies to disclose all information gathered.

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Press Release

Group Plans To Ask Google Executives What They Knew About Wi-Spy

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – Consumer Watchdog today sent its “Google Track Team” comprised of mimes dressed in white track suits to follow shareholders as they gathered for the company’s annual meeting in a bid to focus attention on the Internet giant’s online tracking activity.

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A theatrical moment occurred before the meeting, when a watchdog group dressed up as “the Google Track Team” to protest what it viewed as the company’s less-than-exemplary privacy policies. The protesters, from Consumer Watchdog, tried to “track” Google employees and shareholders as they checked in for the meeting. Google’s security team was not amused.

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Consumer Watchdog demonstrator Don McLeod protests in front of a Google shareholder outside of Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Thursday, June 21, 2012 before the shareholders meeting. Protestors demonstrated to help raise awareness of Google’s online tracking policy. They are calling for legislation for “Do Not Track” mechanism urged by the FTC. They are protesting information from being gathered by Google without permission.

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Press Release

Washington, DC – In an opinion piece published in POLITICO today, Consumer Watchdog’s Jamie Court and John M. Simpson compare the treatment of News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch – who was called before Parliament in Britain to answer for hacking into the private phone records of families – and the kid glove treatment Google CEO Larry Page has received in America after a much larger privacy breach in which the new media giant collected personal information from millions of Wi-Fi networks around the world.

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Consumer Watchdog, a vocal anti-Google advocacy group, has urged regulators to consider breaking up Google. The group says the company’s search engine is a “gateway” to the Web and that it should be forced to spin off some of its businesses to ensure that it doesn’t have an unfair advantage.

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The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is raising concerns about Google’s altruistic motives when it comes to autonomous vehicles. The group sees The Big G’s efforts less as a way to reduce crashes and save lives, and more as a ploy to mine and monetize even more personal data. And it wants to block a bill that would clear the way for Google’s self-driving cars to legally cruise California roads unless privacy protections are in place.

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