Press Release
SANTA MONICA CA – Consumer Watchdog today said executives of leading Internet companies Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! should face criminal charges for their roles in allowing mortgage modification ad scammers to advertise on their sites.
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“Google should never have published these ads, but its executives turned a blind eye to these fraudsters for far too long because of the substantial revenue such advertising generates,” says John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project. “The company cannot be allowed to benefit from these ill-gotten gains. Google must donate the money to aid homeowners who were victimized because of its callous quest for profits.”
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One Google critic, the public advocacy firm, Consumer Watchdog, wants Google held accountable. It put out a report in February blasting Google for taking these fraudulent ads. They suggest that Google be fined in order to help compensate the victims of these scams.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today called on Google to donate the tainted revenue it received from deceptive ads preying on vulnerable homeowners to non-profit groups that help consumers with credit problems, including homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure. The mortgage modification scams were first revealed in a Consumer Watchdog report last February.
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“This study proves that personally identifiable information is regularly shared without consumers’ knowledge,” Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson told a forum on Tuesday. “We can’t rely on industry promises to protect consumer privacy; clearly, we need do-not-track legislation, and we need it now.”
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Consumer Watchdog says that privacy and Google’s ability to pry into the lives of anyone is a growing concern among the public. Colleague Jay Greene wrote that this week the group’s primary concern is that Google is gathering a huge trove of personal information, much of it without consumers’ knowledge and consumers are powerless to stop it.
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Consumer Watchdog today told a Senate committee that Google’s reach is so pervasive on the Internet that consumers cannot avoid its massive data collection apparatus. The public interest group said one possible remedy is breaking up the Internet giant, which exercises monopoly power over search and consumer data. Do Not Track regulations are necessary to protect consumers from the Internet giant’s pervasive data collection.
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Consumer Watchdog plans to deploy a group of mimes wearing white track suits emblazoned with Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” motto Wednesday, just as Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The mimes will mercilessly track senators and their staffers as they move through the Dirksen Senate office building..
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Consumer Watchdog’s latest online animated video debuted today, satirizing Google CEO Larry Page and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt to dramatize Google’s information monopoly and make the case for Do Not Track Legislation. The video, “Supercharge,” exposes actual quotes by the executives and shows the two Google executives stalking a United States Senator through the signal in his Android mobile phone.
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While there are plenty of groups worried about Internet privacy, few have gone to the lengths of Consumer Watchdog, which relishes its role as a thorn in Google’s side. In addition to the videos, the group has sponsored conferences, written editorials, and taken out ads, all aimed at focusing a spotlight on Google’s conduct. Its primary concern is that Google is gathering a huge trove of personal information, much of it without consumers’ knowledge. Worse still, according to the group, is that consumers are powerless to stop it. Consumer Watchdog’s Court refers to the data that Google is able to amass as “an information monopoly.”
