Tag Archive | "security"
Google Beats Microsoft in the E-Mail Battle of Los Angeles
Google won the battle with Microsoft for the right to move Los Angeles' 30,000 municipal employees to its e-mail system, knocking out Novell's GroupWise platform for the $7.25 million contract. However, the contract comes with a caveat. Google must compensate the city if its e-mail service is breached and data is stolen. The Los Angeles Council voted to add the penalty provision 9-3. Consumer advocates applauded this motion. "Los Angeles residents cannot be sure the city's confidential or sensitive data will be secure," said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, "but at least they know there will be a penalty if security is compromised. It's essential that this project be closely watched to ensure that Google keeps its promises."
Continue reading...LA Council Insists On Added Security Breach Penalty As It Oks Move To Google’s ‘Cloud’
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Project Demands Close Monitoring To Guarantee Citizen’s Privacy Consumer Watchdog Says Los Angeles, CA -- The Los Angeles City Council voted today to move the city’s 30,000 email users to a system provided by Google, but only after a provision that the city be compensated if there is security breach in the data held on Google’s servers.
Continue reading...Google Selected To Handle City’s E-mail Operation
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
CONTRACT: Deal Could Save $5 Million, But Some Still Have Security Concerns Google trumped Microsoft and Novell on Tuesday, winning a $7.25 million contract to create an e-mail system for workers in Los Angeles. John Simpson with the group Consumer Watchdog warned against adopting the Google system until more work is completed on security. "It may be the thing of the future, but I'm not sure it is there yet," Simpson said. "The security checks don't exist yet. It is the gleam in Google's eyes." Part of the City Council's approval was based on promises from Google that it will reimburse the city for any damages.
Continue reading...L.A. City Council To Vote On Google E-mail Contract
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Questions about cost, security and reliability remain, but the council is expected to decide Tuesday. After concerns were raised about how Google would secure sensitive data from law enforcement agencies, the company announced plans to finish work on a "government cloud," a separate set of servers with enhanced security, sometime next year. But completion of the government cloud is not a guarantee, said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group that has been critical of the Google contract. "If you build it and vet it and test it, great, but don't commit to going onto it until it actually exists," he said.
Continue reading...Con: Why Los Angeles Should Worry About Google’s E-mail System
Monday, October 26, 2009
Google wants the city of Los Angeles to switch its 30,000 e-mail users to an Internet-based system it operates, but rather than address real questions about the security of such "cloud computing" systems the Internet giant changes its story depending on its audience.
Continue reading...Will City of L.A. jump into Google’s cloud?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
I spent all afternoon Monday waiting at the LA City Council Budget Committee to give the Council members my two minutes on why Google's proposal to put the City's computing into its cloud could be dangerous. In a nutshell: Security,...
Continue reading...Google Using ‘Double Talk’ On Cloud Security, Says L.A. Consumer Group
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A consumer advocacy group that is opposed to a plan by the city of Los Angeles to adopt Google's hosted e-mail and office applications is accusing the company of a double standard on security issues. In a letter to Bernard Parks, chairman of the Los Angeles City Council's Budget and Finance Committee, Consumer Watchdog claimed that Google was being hypocritical in marketing Google Apps to the city.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Highlights Google Hypocrisy In Differing ‘Cloud Computing’ Statements
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Group Also Releases 3rd Round Of Annotated Google Documents In ‘Charmwatch’ Campaign SANTA MONICA, CA -- Consumer Watchdog today slammed Google for its apparent hypocrisy in marketing its new "cloud computing" products, blandly assuring customers that their data is secure on Google Internet servers but at the same time warning shareholders of the security risks posed by swift expansion of its commercial online business. The nonpartisan, nonprofit group sent a letter to a Los Angeles City Councilman showing that Google says one thing when trying to sell its products, but something else in federally required filings aimed at shareholders. Consumer Watchdog also released another round of annotated Google P.R. documents in its Google “Charmwatch” campaign.
Continue reading...Microsoft’s Sidekick Debacle Brings Much-Hyped ‘Cloud’ Back To Earth
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
In a letter last week to City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, John Simpson of advocacy group Consumer Watchdog noted the stark language Google uses to describe the many things that could go wrong with its cloud-based systems.
Continue reading...Privacy Group Coalition Urges Data Regulation
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Ten consumer and privacy groups are urging Congress to limit the way online information can be used for advertising and profiling. A coalition of ten consumer and privacy groups on Tuesday urged Congress to draft new legislation to preserve consumer privacy online by limiting behavioral advertising and establishing new ground rules for information collection and use.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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