Archive | Tag: Privacy

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The idea of opening a Commerce Department privacy office, which officials said was underway, came under fire from the privacy group Consumer Watchdog, which said the office may not have enough of a consumer focus. “There is a fundamental conflict of interest in putting the administration’s Privacy Policy Office in the Commerce Department,” said John Simpson, a privacy expert with the group, whose sentiments were echoed by other privacy organizations.

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While pleased that the agency is bringing attention to the need to do more to protect consumer privacy online, representatives from five privacy groups said in a conference call that the report’s proposed measures are too focused on industry self regulation. It’s a “Christmas gift to the data collection industry from the Obama administration,” according to John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog.

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The Commerce Department paper calls for an online privacy bill of rights and codes of conduct for Internet companies, with enforcement by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. But several privacy groups questioned whether the codes of conduct would be effective because of the paper’s suggestion that affected companies help write them. The policy recommendations in the report are an “early Christmas gift to the data collection industry,” said John Simpson, consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog.

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John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog, said the report starts off on the wrong foot with its very title – ‘Commercial Data Privacy and Innovation in the Internet Economy: A Dynamic Policy Framework.’ “They talk about commercial data privacy,” Simpson said. “What we should be talking about is consumers’ data and their right to privacy, not a business commodity. This is all about easing things for businesses. It’s in some sense I think an early Christmas gift to the data collection industry from the Obama administration.”

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Consumer groups including Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy, both based in Washington, have raised concerns about how Internet marketing companies compile personal information to target online users with advertising. The FTC said in a privacy report released Dec. 1 that data collection on the Web is sometimes done “in an irresponsible or even reckless manner.”

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“Connecticut sounds very serious about doing something, doing something more than just a slap on the wrist,” said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group that has asked for congressional hearings on the issue. Blumenthal “is going to be a junior senator, but he may carry some of this with him to Washington. Who knows, he might be the guy who gets some kind of a hearing” in Congress.

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Blog Post

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is leading a multi-state probe into Google’s Wi-Spying activity is demanding the Internet giant turn over the data that its Street View cars improperly gathered from wireless networks in the state.

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