Inside Google

It was also a disappointment to a coalition of consumer groups and privacy advocates, which welcomed the bill but called for it to be “significantly strengthened.” “I don’t think this is going to affect online marketing at all,” said Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy privacy group. John Simpson, of Consumer Watchdog, agreed. “We cannot support it today,” he said.

“Consumers need strong baseline safeguards to protect them from the sophisticated data profiling and targeting practices that are now rampant online and with mobile devices. We cannot support the bill at this time,” Consumer Watchdog, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and Privacy Times wrote McCain and Kerry on Tuesday.

The privacy advocates praised McCain and Kerry for raising the online privacy issue, but said the bill falls short of their expectations. The loopholes in the bill “could leave consumers feeling that they’re far more protected than they are,” said John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog.

In a letter to the senators, five consumer groups said they welcomed the new legislation, one of several privacy bills introduced or expected this year. But they said the Kerry/McCain legislation was “insufficient” to protect consumers and needed to be strengthened.

A coalition of consumer groups and privacy advocates welcomed the bipartisan effort but said in a letter to the senators that the legislation needs to be “significantly strengthened if it is to effectively protect consumer privacy rights in today’s digital marketplace.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of consumer groups and privacy advocates welcomed the bipartisan effort by Senators John Kerry and John McCain to craft online privacy legislation today, but said their bill needs to be significantly strengthened if it is to effectively protect consumer privacy rights in today’s digital marketplace.

SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog today called on the federal government to suspend any contracts with Google to provide so-called “cloud computing” services after it was revealed the Internet giant misrepresented the security of those services.

Another group, Consumer Watchdog, expressed concern that even with the conditions on the deal, Google will “ultimately win control of the travel search industry, driving ticket prices up for consumers.”

Consumer Watchdog and the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) both expressed measured confidence about the proposal as well. Consumer Watchdog said the DoJ’s conditions would “focus unprecedented and necessary regulatory scrutiny on the Internet giant,” but that even with the rules in place, Google could still drive up ticket prices due to its dominance in search.

Full Investigation Of Anticompetitive Search Practices Needed, Consumer Watchdog Says
WASHINGTON, DC — The Department of Justice’s conditions on Google’s $700 million deal to buy ITA Software will focus unprecedented and necessary regulatory scrutiny on the Internet giant, Consumer Watchdog said today. The nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group called on the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google’s anticompetitive search practices.