Bob Boorstin, the director of Corporate and Policy Communications for Google, sent
a letter to the Rose Foundation blasting Consumer Watchdog, and, er,
asking that Rose defund them.
News Clipping
Well, That Wasn’t Very Googly
News Clipping
Google Watchdog Battle Heats Up
Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court wrote to Google CEO Eric
Schmidt Monday arguing that his top executives must "have more
important priorities than defunding a consumer group critical of your
lack of privacy protections." In the letter, he laid out some
observations about Google’s perceived "less than open corporate
culture, its opaque public policymaking division and some suggestions
for change and moving forward."
News Clipping
Privacy Watchdog Suffers Google’s Ire
Search Giant Tries To Pull Consumer Watchdog’s Funding
The U.S. privacy and consumer protection group Consumer Watchdog today shot back at Google for allegedly trying to have its funding withdrawn.
Press Release
Privacy Watchdog Condemns Google For Effort To Defund It: Calls For Greater Corporate Disclosure About Lobbying Efforts And Independent Privacy Chief
Washington, DC — Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court wrote
Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt today questioning the company’s priorities
following efforts by one of Google’s top executives to dissuade a
charitable foundation from supporting the nonpartisan group’s privacy
efforts.
News Clipping
Google Rates Its Own Washington Watchdog
Since winning the grant last August, Consumer Watchdog has challenged Google
privacy practices related to its Gmail electronic mail program and its
Chrome Web browser. Last month, the group accused Google of lobbying
Congress to weaken privacy protections for medical records stored in
its Google Health program. “Their business model is incompatible with privacy,” says Jamie Court, Consumer Watchdog’s president.
News Clipping
Google Executive Apologizes Over Email To Consumer Watchdog Donor
Bob Boorstin, Google’s Director of Corporate and Policy Communications,
issued a statement on Monday apologizing for sending information about
Consumer Watchdog to The Rose Foundation. Earlier on Monday, Consumer
Watchdog published the text of an email that Boorstin sent to the
foundation on February 9, in which he asked it to consider withdrawing
funding. Boorstin cited Consumer Watchdog’s campaign to highlight
Google’s alleged lobbying activities on Capitol Hill.
News Clipping
Consumer Privacy Advocates Seek Search Engine Solution
No
one knows more about us—our ailments, significant others, favorite
music, what we’re thinking about buying, and how much we spend—than our
search engines. Virtually all search engines gather information about
how searchers query, what they click, and where they wind up. This
personal information (i.e., IP addresses, cookies, session IDs) is
stored alongside queries for anywhere between 90 days and forever. "I
think most users simply don’t realize the amount of personal
information they provide," says John M. Simpson, a consumer policy
advocate with the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog.
News Clipping
Availability Of Online Health Records Sparks Privacy Concerns
Consumer advocacy groups, such as Patient Privacy Rights (PPR) and
Consumer Watchdog, warn that such online records could pose a threat to
patients’ health privacy rights. PPR says the most recent health IT
portion of the Senate version of the economic stimulus bill intoduces
loopholes that allow the sale and misuse of personal health information.
Press Release
Consumer Watchdog To Google: Publicly Disclose Your Lobbying Positions On Electronic Medical Record Provisions In Stimulus Bill
Santa Monica, CA — A national consumer group today called upon Google
to publicly disclose its lobbying positions on the electronic medical
record provisions of the financial stimulus legislation given a new
account by an independent journalist that Google’s presence on the bill
was felt on Capitol Hill.
Blog Post
White House camouflages ties to Google
The White House webmaster apparently is hearing concerns from privacy advocates about exemptions from federal rules for Google’s YouTube video service, but I’m not applauding the latest response at all.