Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog has placed a digital advertisement in Times Square calling Internet giant Google “chicken” for its failure to accept the public interest group’s challenge to debate measures to protect consumers’ online privacy. The ad is running during “AdWeek” in New York City, at which Google has a major presence.
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“That’s kind of a fundamental human right,” argued John Simpson, an advocate with Consumer Watchdog. “The books that people have been taking out of the library are not something that’s shared, and librarians have fought to maintain that. Generally, you can’t go in and say, ‘What’s my wife been reading on her library card? What’s my son been reading on our library card?’ It’s private. In the same way, the Internet is a great source of information, and people ought to be able to consider that their activity online is private in the same way. The fact of the matter is that it’s not right now.”
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — The consumer group that recently launched a popular online animated satire of Google’s privacy problems embodied in an ice cream truck said the revelation that a Google engineer tracked children down shows that private information is never safe if it is in Google’s hands. Consumer Watchdog called on Google to publicly answer some basic questions about how effectively it protects consumers’ privacy.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today invited Google to participate in a conference, “Google, The Internet And The Future,” that the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group plans to host in Washington this fall as part of its Inside Google project. The invitation came in a letter to CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. It was prompted by Google’s promotional campaign this week in Washington highlighting its privacy tools and a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition hearing Thursday on competition in digital markets.
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On Thursday, Consumer Watchdog complained about the ad rejection in an open letter published on its site, and a Google representative confirmed Friday that Google had overturned the original decision but did not admit making any error. “As the trademark owner, upon becoming aware of their letter, we decided–regardless of whether these particular ads violate our policies or not–to authorize them to run,” a Google representative said.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — New comments by Google CEO Eric Schmidt in Berlin show the top executive of the Internet giant fails “to recognize that the direction Google is currently heading is inexorably at odds with the notion of personal privacy,” Consumer Watchdog said today. Schmidt said, among other things, “We can suggest what you should do next, what you care about. Imagine: we know where you are, we know what you like.”
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An anti-Google video is running on a billboard in Times Square, criticizing the search company on privacy issues. The 15-second cartoon depicts Chief Executive Eric Schmidt as an ice cream peddler with the text, “He’s collecting your personal information.” The nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, based in Santa Monica, Calif., is running the $25,000 campaign on a 560-square-foot CBS Jumbotron in Times Square. The video will air 36 times a day, in between promos for the TV show “CSI,” until Oct. 15.
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Made wary by the Google Wi-Fi scandal, privacy advocates are concerned. Part of the problem is that there’s so little public awareness of what’s going on, said John Simpson, an advocate with Consumer Watchdog, a group that’s been highly critical of Google in the past. “If I buy a cell phone, do I expect to be mapping people’s Wi-Fi locations for the company that sold me the phone?” he asked. “My answer to that is I’d kind of be taken aback. Part of the problem with this technology is that people just don’t know what’s going on,” he added.
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The animated creation portrays Google CEO Eric Schmidt as a creepy old dude riding around in an ice cream truck offering up free treats to little kids. The high-tech vehicle conducts body scans of the children to capture their personal information and “Schmidt” shares news with the little ones about their parents’ web surfing habits. According to Consumer Watchdog, they are hoping the video will encourage people to create a “Do Not Track Me” list that will prevent Internet companies from invading consumers’ privacy (just like the “Do Not Call” lists).
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Rabid Consumer Watchdog Attacks Google CEO
Consumer Watchdog has created quite a stir with its Times Square jumbotron attack ad depicting Google CEO Eric Schmidt as a child predator. The so-called lampoon is designed to provoke outrage against Google’s perceived privacy intrusions, but some viewers may find the privacy group’s tactics even more outrageous. Consumer Watchdog’s Simpson shrugged off such criticism. “Sometimes, as an advocate, you want to focus attention on an issue — and if someone calls you crazy, then you put on your thick skin and smile, because that means they are focusing on the issue,” he said. “As long as people are talking about the issue seriously, we are happy.”
