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Consumer Watchdog said today it filed a Freedom of Information Act request for copies of e-mails traded between the White House’s Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Google Inc., his former employer. Andrew McLaughlin, previously the…
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The public interest group Consumer Watchdog filed a Freedom of Information Act request on Thursday asking to see emails between President Obama’s Deputy Chief Technology Officer Andrew McLaughlin and his former employer, Google. The critique…
Press Release
White House Internet Policy Chief Andrew McLaughlin’s “Buzz” Profile Showed Continued Ties To Internet Giant WASHINGTON, D.C. — Consumer Watchdog filed a Freedom of Information Act request today with the White House Office of Science…
Blog Post
The tech blogosphere is buzzing with Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ assessment of Google’s…
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Google’s ties to the Obama administration are perhaps unrivaled in corporate America, but the Internet giant’s announcement this week that it’s considering pulling out of China because of Chinese censorship and hacker attacks put the White House in a tricky spot. "They like to go around and sing the mantra, ‘Don’t be evil,’" said
John Simpson, a consumer advocate with the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog.
"But they almost always act in what they perceive to be Google’s
interest – and that doesn’t necessarily coincide with that of any
government."
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Google won the battle with Microsoft for the right to move Los Angeles’ 30,000 municipal employees to its e-mail system, knocking out Novell’s GroupWise platform for the $7.25 million contract. However, the contract comes with a caveat. Google must compensate the
city if its e-mail service is breached and data is stolen. The Los
Angeles Council voted to add the penalty provision 9-3. Consumer
advocates applauded this motion. "Los Angeles residents cannot be sure the city’s confidential or
sensitive data will be secure," said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate
with Consumer Watchdog, "but at least they know there will be a penalty
if security is compromised. It’s essential that this project be closely
watched to ensure that Google keeps its promises."
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Questions about cost, security and reliability remain, but the council is expected to decide Tuesday.
After concerns were raised about how Google would secure sensitive data
from law enforcement agencies, the company announced plans to finish
work on a "government cloud," a separate set of servers with enhanced
security, sometime next year. But completion of the government cloud is not a guarantee, said John
Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group
that has been critical of the Google contract. "If you build it and vet it and test it, great, but don’t commit to going onto it until it actually exists," he said.
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The Los Angeles City Council’s Information Technology and General Services (ITGS) Committee on Tuesday
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Eyes are rolling, especially in reaction to the idea that Google is a
relatively small player in a giant market. “They describe where they
are in a market under a kind of a fairy-tale spun gloss that doesn’t
reflect their dominance of key sectors,” said Jeff Chester, executive
director of the Center for Digital Democracy. “Google search is an
absolute must-have for every marketer in the world.”
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Consumer Groups Object To Expected Selection Of Google Exec To Deputy CTO Post
Andrew McLaughlin, Google’s director of global public policy, is
expected to be appointed U.S. deputy chief technology officer,
reporting to federal CTO Aneesh Chopra. Both are new White House positions. Two groups, the Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog,
yesterday urged Obama not to appoint McLaughlin to the post. In a
letter signed by Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for
Digital Democracy and and John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer
Watchdog, the groups said that McLaughlin "has been a lobbyist for the
biggest digital marketing company in the world, and we believe no
special-interest connected person should assume a position of vital
importance to the country’s future."
