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“Google advocates openness and transparency for everyone else, but when it comes to their own activities, the company is extremely secretive,” said Consumer Watchdog spokesman John Simpson. “Inside Google will focus needed public attention on Google’s activities.”
Press Release
Consumer Watchdog today formally launched its new Website, Inside Google, to focus attention on the company’s activities and hold Google accountable for its actions. The sites’ URL is http://insidegoogle.com.
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Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson said in a release: “McLaughlin received a mild slap on the wrist.” Simpson has called for McLaughlin’s resignation saying a technology expert, not a policy expert, should be in the position.
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What happens when Google’s former public policy director starts working in the White House—but continues to e-mail current Google lobbyists, and to take their e-mails? If you’re Consumer Watchdog, the answer is simple: he “should resign his position.”
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The White House released the e-mails following a request by Santa Monica, California-based Consumer Watchdog, which says it works to protect American consumers and taxpayers. “He’s got too many ties to influence-peddling and it’s clear that those ties haven’t been completely cut,” said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate with the group, in an interview. “What makes it particularly irksome is that Obama made such a big deal about ending the revolving door of lobbyists.”
Press Release
The White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer, Google’s former top global lobbyist, has been reprimanded for ethics violations that were revealed after a Freedom of Information Act Request from Consumer Watchdog.
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Those numbers might have gone unnoticed if not for a handful of critics who fear Google is becoming too dominant in its markets and is seeking to become too influential in Washington, D.C. Perhaps chief among those critics is John Simpson, a consumer advocate at the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. Simpson says he would like to see the Justice Department launch a broad antitrust investigation of Google.
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Privacy advocates argue that the bill’s exemption for “operational” collection of data–allowing those practices to take place under an “opt-out” rule–gives advertisers far too much leeway. “This bill really adopts an archaic and bankrupt ‘notice and consent’ regime that we all know doesn’t’ work,” says John Simpson, head of the Google Privacy and Accountability project at Consumer Watchdog.
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Privacy advocates panned the bill during a conference call this afternoon, suggesting its lack of opt-out requirements maintain the status quo. “This bill really adopts and endorses an archaic, bankrupt notice and consent regimen that we know does not work,” said a representative of ConsumerWatchdog.org.
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“While the discussion has started on this privacy issue because of this bill, I can’t really say very much good about it,” John Simpson from Consumer Watchdog later said on the call. “This bill really adopts and endorses an archaic, bankrupt notice-and-consent regime that we all know does not work.”
