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“We appreciate this landmark privacy decision by the FTC, but Google needs to be punished and feel pain on its bottom line,” said Consumer Watchdog privacy project director John M. Simpson. “Nothing will completely stop Google from invading users’ privacy until it gets hit where it hurts, its bank accounts.”
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“My assessment of this is that the FTC is struggling mightily to do as much as it can, given the legal structure it’s got,” said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, which has urged the federal government to investigate Google in a number of areas. Simpson added the entire flap ultimately reflects the urgency with which Congress should pass a new law, preferably one that would allow consumers to opt-out of advertisements targeted to their browsing behavior, called “Do Not Track.”
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“It’s ironic it’s (+1) coming out on the same day” as the F.T.C. settlement, said John M. Simpson, an advocate at Consumer Watchdog, a critic of Google. “It seems to me there are some of the same kinds of issues that happened with Buzz. The key is how transparent and open it is about what’s going to be shared and how you share it.”
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John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project, said the FTC should have gone further and actually fined the search giant. “Nothing will completely stop Google from invading users’ privacy until it gets hit where it hurts, its bank accounts,” he said in a statement.
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John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog welcomed the FTC settlement but said Google “needs to be punished and feel pain on its bottom line. Nothing will completely stop Google from invading users’ privacy until it gets hit where it hurts, its bank accounts,” Simpson said.
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC — Consumer Watchdog praised the Federal Trade Commission for requiring Google to submit to privacy audits for the next twenty years, but said the Internet giant should also face monetary penalties for its abuses. The nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group also called for government action to curtail Google’s anti-competitive practices.
Blog Post
France’s privacy watchdog has just fined Google 100,000 euros ($142,000) as a result of the Internet giant’s Wi-Spy activities. It may not be a lot to a company whose worldwide annual sales are around $25 billion a year, but it’s the biggest fine the regulator has issued.
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A “multi-stakeholder process” to develop online privacy codes advocated today by the Obama Administration runs the risk of being dominated by industry and failing to protect consumers if it is not organized in a fair and balanced manner, six public interest groups warned. The groups include Consumer Watchdog, The Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Action, U.S. PIRG and the World Privacy Forum.
Blog Post
The Senate Antitrust Subcommittee plan to examine Google’s activities for possible antitrust violations, is the latest indication that the Internet giant’s behavior is drawing increasingly skeptical — and well deserved — scrutiny in the nation’s capital.
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC — Google’s latest privacy breach, gathering children’s social security information on a contest entry form, suggests that the Internet giant did not live up to commitments that prompted the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection to end its inquiry into the Wi-Spy incident, Consumer Watchdog said today.
