Inside Google

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Legislation proposed in California that would mandate a means for Web users to easily prevent websites from gathering their personal information is moving forward, despite intensive lobbying and opposition from some of the state’s largest Internet firms — including Facebook Inc. and Google Inc.

President of Consumer Watchdog, Jamie Court, said there’s also concern that the information could fall into the wrong hands or be misused. “You search out of curiosity for ‘marijuana’ you don’t want to be followed by cannabis ads,” said Court. “You should have the right to not be tracked doing that search.”

“Consumers should have the right to choose if their private information…is collected, analyzed and profiled by companies tracking activities online,” John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog said.

A study by researchers at Intel Labs, Penn State and Duke University last year revealed that 15 of 30 popular Android apps send location data to advertisers — often without notifying users. “People don’t understand what’s going on with their data,” said John Simpson, director of consumer privacy at Consumer Watchdog. “It’s sort of being sucked up without their real knowledge.”

“They’re trying to quell an understandable storm of concern,” said John Simpson, director of the privacy project at Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group. But he added, “It sounds like they’re going to continue doing a lot of stuff that is potentially problematic.”

“Apple needs to do a lot more to explain what it has been doing and why, and a good start would be for Steve Jobs to appear at the hearing,” says John Simpson, spokesman for Consumer Watchdog.

“No one has really understood the extent of the data collection going on with these spy phones,” said John M. Simpson, Washington-based director of nonprofit Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project. “Last week, it started to become clear just how much was going on.”

Still, the report on Google’s data collection policy yesterday prompted advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, based in Washington, D.C., to ask for a law to ensure that phone users can choose not to be tracked. “These aren’t smartphones, they are spy phones,” said John Simpson, director of the group’s privacy project.

John M. Simpson, director of advocacy group Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project, said this is the latest sign there should be an online “do not track” list. “These aren’t smartphones; they are spy phones,” Simpson said. “The mobile world is the Wild West of the Internet where these tech giants seem to think anything goes.”

SANTA MONICA, CA – New details of how tech giants Google and Apple spy on users of their smartphones demonstrate the need for Do Not Track Me legislation that would cover mobile devices, Consumer Watchdog said today.