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“How this possibly can be construed as promoting competition is incomprehensible,” said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, a strident Google critic. “What it demonstrates is Google’s clout in Washington.”
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“We’re very disappointed, we think it’s still pretty clear that these two combined are an unstoppable juggernaut,” said John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog spokesman on Friday. “There’s also an arguable case that Apple’s activities need to be investigated right now with what they’re planning to do with Quattro and perhaps shutting people out of the iPhone platform.”
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In addition to the letter from the two U.S. legislators about the Street View data collection, the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has sent a letter to the FTC asking it to investigate Google’s practices. The group also launched a site called Inside Google (https://insidegoogle.com/) to call attention to what it believes are the company’s failings in various areas, including privacy. As the growing furor over Facebook and its approach to privacy has shown, concern is mounting about social networks and Web companies, what kinds of data they’re collecting, and how they’re using the information. Google continues to downplay the importance of what was a serious breach of personal privacy.
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Google faces other legal actions over the Street View snafu. German prosecutors, for example, have launched a criminal investigation into Google’s actions, while in the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been asked to investigate Google by the consumer group Consumer Watchdog.
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“I’m really incredulous,” said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog. “What they are saying is the No. 1 and the No. 2 can combine, and it’s not a problem because there is a No. 3 over there that is now owned by Apple. I find that incomprehensible.”
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By browsing through several dozen emails now being posted by a consumer group, anyone can read for himself the chummy chatter that has been occurring for the past year between a couple of senior Google officers and White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Andrew McLaughlin, who headed Google’s global public policy unit until assuming his current post in May 2009.
Press Release
The Federal Trade Commission’s decision allowing the $750 million deal for Google to buy mobile advertising company AdMob is anticompetitive and bad for consumers, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Blog Post
In the latest revelation in a seemingly never ending stream of privacy breaches by online companies, we now know that Facebook and MySpace have been sending consumers’ personal information to advertisers despite promises that they don’t share such data without consent.
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“Google advocates openness and transparency for everyone else, but when it comes to their own activities, the company is extremely secretive,” said Consumer Watchdog spokesman John Simpson. “Inside Google will focus needed public attention on Google’s activities.”
Blog Post
Outrage continues to rise over Google’s “WiSpy” efforts that saw its Street View cars snoop on private WiFi networks as they roamed the streets of 30 countries over the last three years. Europeans contemplated criminal charges; U.S. lawmakers asked the Federal Trade Commission what it’s doing and a class action suit was filed in Oregon.
