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The nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog released a report this year tracking ads on Google’s site that preyed on consumers looking for mortgage modifications. The report called Google “a prominent beneficiary of the national home loan and foreclosure crisis of the past two years.”
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The Senate Commerce committee has called Google and other technology execs to testify tomorrow on mobile privacy. What Google was collecting with its street view cars has every relevance to what they’re doing now, and I hope Senators finally grill them on the topic under oath. (More questions Google should have to answer here.)
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Consumer Watchdog has dogged Google since 2008 on a number of issues. Particularly galling to Court is Google’s massive collection of Internet users’ information obtained through unencrypted Wi-Fi networks, which he says is a violation of wiretapping laws.
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“Much of Google’s privacy problems stem from the company’s culture,” says John Simpson, spokesman for the non-profit Consumer Watchdog. “They hire like-minded engineers who push the creepy line, then apologize when they get caught with their fingers in the cookie jar.”
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Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog noted that Mozilla, Microsoft and Apple are incorporating a mechanism into their Web browsers to send a “Do Not Track” message but there is currently no legal requirement that a website honor the request.
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A poll by Consumer Watchdog found that 90 percent of Americans want legislation to protect their online privacy, and 80 percent support a Do Not Track mechanism. Another 86 percent want a single-click button on their browsers that makes them anonymous when they search online.
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The bills announced Friday give new impetus to allowing consumers to request they not be tracked, said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog. “Demand for ‘do not track’ protection is swelling, and that makes sense,” he said. “This is an idea whose time has come, and I believe people will finally get the protection they are demanding.”
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The chairman of the powerful US senate commerce committee plans to introduce a bill [1] next week that will require companies to give online shoppers the opportunity to opt out of online tracking – and enforcement powers to the Federal Trade Commission.
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Still, it’s the first time such a bill has made it out of committee, and that’s a big deal, according to John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project. “This is the first time that a ‘do not track’ bill has actually had a hearing and been debated and then voted forward in the legislative process,” he said.
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“A Do Not Track mechanism would give consumers better control of their information and help restore their confidence in the internet,” Jamie Court, Consumer Watchdog’s president, said in a written statement after the committee action. “That’s a win-win for consumers and business.”
