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Google’s alleged circumvention of do-not-track controls on Apple’s Safari browser could lead to big fines from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission if the agency. Consumer Watchdog, a privacy advocate that has been critical of Google, called on the FTC to investigate the company for unfair and deceptive business practices.
Press Release
Consumer Watchdog Says Internet Giant Lied To Users, Calls For FTC Action
SANTA MONICA, CA – In the wake of a Stanford University researcher’s study that found Google has been violating people’s online privacy choices, Consumer Watchdog said today the Internet giant was lying to users and called for the Federal Trade Commission to act. iPhone and iPad users were targeted.
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC — Consumer Watchdog has asked the House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Committee to hold hearings on Google’s new privacy and data policy and to call Google CEO Larry Page ” to explain his company’s disingenuous statements about its supposed commitment to users’ privacy.”
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The latest public letter was penned by Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project Director, John M. Simpson, and was addressed to the House’s subcommittee Chair Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and Ranking Member G.K Butterfield, (D-NC). It starts: “I am writing on behalf of Consumer Watchdog to urge you to call Google’s CEO Larry Page to testify before your committee to explain his company’s disingenuous statements about its supposed commitment to users’ privacy.”
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“We welcome and support EPIC’s suit,” John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog, told the E-Commerce Times. “We called on the FTC to determine whether Google’s arrogant, unilateral action violated the Buzz consent agreement,” Simpson continued. “I think it’s clear that it does.”
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today praised European data protection authorities for asking Google to delay implementation of its new privacy and data policies and said the U.S. Federal Trade Commission should determine whether the new policies violate the terms of Google’s consent agreement with the commission.
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“Your investigation into Google’s practices that affect millions of Americans should be public,” John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project, wrote in this letter to Mack. “There is a substantial irony in a secret briefing from a company that claims its mission is to organize the world’s information and make it more accessible.”
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Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson points out that personalized advertisements targeted directly to a specific user, based on user-collected information, can be “a substantial amount” more lucrative than just an anonymous ad. And with all the information Google can collect about your interests from your searches, your Google Docs, and your favorite YouTube videos, they can figure out pretty specifically what ads they should show you. “They are positioning this as streamlining privacy,” Simpson says. “But that’s just PR. It’s all about better targeting for advertisers.”
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SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today called for a Congressional briefing about Google’s new privacy and data policies to be open to the public and said a closed door-session with the lawmakers demonstrated Google executive’s “hypocrisy.”
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“It’s hard to predict exactly what sort of gaffe they’ll do next, but it would not surprise me if there is yet another one,” said John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project, noting some concerns over Facebook’s recent expansion of its Timeline feature, which makes it easier to visualize, share, and view users’ profile history.
