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Several groups were all in favor of the subcommittee using a subpoena. “What are Page and Schmidt afraid of? What do they have to hide? Congress should use its subpoena power to determine whether Google’s dominance of the search industry is enabling the company to monopolize the Internet,” said Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson.
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC — The refusal of Google’s top executives, CEO Larry Page and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt to testify at a hearing by the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee demonstrates a contempt for Congress and the full Senate Judiciary Committee should subpoena the two executives, Consumer Watchdog said today.
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EPIC wants the FTC to require Facebook to stop using the technology pending an investigation, as well as ultimately make it opt-in.The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) joined with the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse to file a complaint with the agency, arguing that the facial-recognition software is “unfair and deceptive.”
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“There is every reason to believe that unless the [FTC] acts promptly, Facebook will routinely automate facial identification and eliminate any pretense of user control over the use of their own images for online identification,” Rotenberg wrote in the complaint. EPIC was joined by the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog today said Google used deceptive and unfair trade practices in marketing its “cloud computing” services to government entities and asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.
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“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.”
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – As average Americans focus today on their income tax bill, Consumer Watchdog called on President Obama and the chairmen of the House and Senate tax committees to block calls for a tax holiday that would unfairly benefit corporate giants like Google.
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Consumer Watchdog’s scorecard is full of “evil” tally marks against Google. Some claim that Microsoft is spreading FUD, but legal woes facing Google seem to disagree that Google hasn’t crossed creepy line.
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The state bill (SB 671), the so-called “Do Not Track Me” law, would allow people to opt out of the “collection, use, and storage” of personal data by any firm. Consumer Watchdog, a backer of the bill, has challenged Google to support such privacy protection.
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Privacy advocates welcomed the idea of a grand jury probe, saying consumers often had little information about how the apps they downloaded were sharing data collected from their mobile devices. “I think of them as spy phones, not smart phones,” said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project.
