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In November advocacy groups Center for Digital Democracy, U.S. PIRG, Consumer Watchdog, and the World Privacy Forum filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over “unfair and deceptive” advertising and data gathering practices at online health information and service sites.
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“It is clear that we need some kind of ‘do not track’ legislation for smartphones as well as online,” John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, told MacNewsWorld. This transmission of information was described as common in the Journal article, he noted — and consumers have no recourse.
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John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, who has criticized McLaughlin’s appointment from the start, wrote in a blog post: “It’s good he’s gone.”
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If Washington fails to act, California should create its own “do not track me” system through the Legislature or the ballot box. The state that pioneered Internet commerce can also lead the way in ensuring that it does not run roughshod over one of our fundamental rights.
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“We’re interested in the monopolistic power that Google has, how they are using it and whether it has disadvantaged consumers,” said John Simpson, a director at Consumer Watchdog.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — The Do Not Track Me function proposed in the Federal Trade Commission’s recently released online privacy report must be extended to include smartphones, Consumer Watchdog said today in the wake of a Wall Street Journal article showing how applications for the iPhone and Android phones widely share personal data without the users’ knowledge or consent.
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That answer isn’t satisfactory for privacy pundits such as Consumer Watchdog’s John M. Simpson. “Google’s refusal to give data gathered by its Street View cars from private WiFi networks to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal underscores the need for a Congressional hearing,” Simpson said. “What is Google hiding?
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While pleased that the agency is bringing attention to the need to do more to protect consumer privacy online, representatives from five privacy groups said in a conference call that the report’s proposed measures are too focused on industry self regulation. It’s a “Christmas gift to the data collection industry from the Obama administration,” according to John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog.
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The Commerce Department paper calls for an online privacy bill of rights and codes of conduct for Internet companies, with enforcement by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. But several privacy groups questioned whether the codes of conduct would be effective because of the paper’s suggestion that affected companies help write them. The policy recommendations in the report are an “early Christmas gift to the data collection industry,” said John Simpson, consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog.
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John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog, said the report starts off on the wrong foot with its very title – ‘Commercial Data Privacy and Innovation in the Internet Economy: A Dynamic Policy Framework.’ “They talk about commercial data privacy,” Simpson said. “What we should be talking about is consumers’ data and their right to privacy, not a business commodity. This is all about easing things for businesses. It’s in some sense I think an early Christmas gift to the data collection industry from the Obama administration.”
