Press Release
SACRAMENTO, CA – For the first time in American history a privacy proposal to give people the right to stop collection of their personal information online has passed a legislative committee.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Legislation proposed in California that would mandate a means for Web users to easily prevent websites from gathering their personal information is moving forward, despite intensive lobbying and opposition from some of the state’s largest Internet firms — including Facebook Inc. and Google Inc.
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President of Consumer Watchdog, Jamie Court, said there’s also concern that the information could fall into the wrong hands or be misused. “You search out of curiosity for ‘marijuana’ you don’t want to be followed by cannabis ads,” said Court. “You should have the right to not be tracked doing that search.”
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“Consumers should have the right to choose if their private information…is collected, analyzed and profiled by companies tracking activities online,” John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog said.
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“No one has really understood the extent of the data collection going on with these spy phones,” said John M. Simpson, Washington-based director of nonprofit Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project. “Last week, it started to become clear just how much was going on.”
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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“We strongly believe that any privacy bill should direct the Federal Trade Commission to require and enforce a “Do Not Track Me” mechanism. Consumers should have the right to use the Internet and mobile devices with confidence that their privacy choices are respected, and with anonymity if they choose,” John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog president, wrote in a letter to Senators McCain and Kerry.
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While consumer advocacy organizations like the Consumer’s Union and the Consumer Federation of American supported the proposal, a separate contingent of consumer privacy advocates — including Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy — applauded the bipartisan effort, but said more could be done.
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“We strongly believe that any privacy bill should direct the Federal Trade Commission to require and enforce a “Do Not Track Me” mechanism. Consumers should have the right to use the Internet and mobile devices with confidence that their privacy choices are respected, and with anonymity if they choose,” John M. Simpson, president of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, wrote in a letter to Senators McCain and Kerry.
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Consumer advocacy groups said the bill wasn’t strong enough. In a letter to Kerry and McCain, privacy advocates at the Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog said the bill still gives companies too much latitude to profile users and track their activity. They said the bill should include the FTC’s Do Not Track proposal.
