Inside Google

David Vladeck, head of the bureau of consumer protection at the FTC, told attendees at Consumer Watchdog’s Future of Online Consumer Protections conference that the agency plans to release the report later this morning that will lay bare the FTC’s commitment to giving U.S. consumers greater choice when it comes to opting out of online tracking. Vladeck declined to get into specifics for fear of upstaging his boss later in the day, but said “we need to reduce the burden on consumers” to monitor how companies are tracking their activities on the Internet for advertising purposes.

“What is Google doing wrong?” Virginia-based consultant and blogger Scott Cleland asked the Consumer Watchdog conference today. “They’re a nice company and competition is just one click away.” It is a common enough question which Cleland answered himself with a metaphor that poker players will appreciate. “Google deals itself Aces that are hidden in its […]

If you wonder if you are being followed online and if anything can be done about it, take a look at the just-out Federal Trade Commission report on online privacy. A frightening amount of information is available about us online and the Federal Trade Commission has endorsed the notion of a “privacy by design” build-in for […]

Weitzner spoke at a conference on the future of online consumer protections that the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog hosted. Marketers have created a lucrative business by collecting detailed data on Internet users’ behaviors and backgrounds, including estimates of income and family composition, to compile consumer profiles for corporate clients. Do Not Track “is the perfect illustration for a robust stakeholder process to develop voluntary but enforceable codes of conduct,” Weitzner added.

In the first session of CW conference on online consumer protection, panelist Chris Soghoian, a privacy technologist, identified one key to the success of “Do Not Track” legislation: a browser-based solution. “Remember almost all browsers are supported by ad networks,” Soghoian reminded the audience at the National Press Club. “Internet Explorer was created by Microsoft […]

The FTC missed its deadline for posting its online privacy report online due to "technical problems"… Anti-trust panel going strong.   Watch live here http://www.visualwebcaster.com/consumerwatchdog   We had the first words on the report earlier at Consumer Watchdog's conference on the future of online consumer protection.    Report just came online about an hour late, a […]

Last April, Consumer Watchdog published this report, titled Traffic Report: How Google Is Squeezing Out Competitors and Muscling Into New Markets. The group formally asked the Justice Department to launch an antitrust probe of the search giant. But the European Commission beat their U.S. counterparts to the punch. “I welcome the European action, but Google is a U.S. Company and it’s long past time for our authorities to launch an investigation,” says Consumer Watchdog spokesman John Simpson.

Google watchdogs for the Consumer Watchdog praised the Commission’s move but lamented the lack of such scrutiny of the search engine in the U.S. “It’s long been clear that Google unfairly uses its dominance in search to benefit its own services,” said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Inside Google project. “I’m pleased with the European announcement, but this is a U.S. company and it is past time for our authorities to act decisively.”

Google’s Anticompetitive Tactics Will Be Topic At Group’s Conference Wednesday

WASHINGTON — Consumer Watchdog today welcomed the European Union’s antitrust investigation of Google and reiterated its call for the the U.S. Justice Department to launch its own investigation of the Internet giant.

Four public interest groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Tuesday urging the agency to investigate whether those offering online health information and services are engaging in unfair and deceptive advertising practices.