Consumer Watchdog

Mixed Reviews For Google Dashboard

Google launched an application Thursday that allows users to see what data is stored in their accounts, but at least one group…

Google Offers Users A Peek At Stored Data

Google, which has been criticized frequently for amassing large amounts of data about people, is giving users an easy way to find…

Google Creates Privacy Dashboard

Google, which has had a bullseye on its back when it comes to Internet privacy, on Thursday launched a Web site that…

Insurers, Critics Face Off Over Customer ‘Discounts’

Billionaire insurance executive George Joseph has launched a California ballot initiative that would allow insurers to give discounts to long-term customers and,…

Google Dashboard Is Small Step For User Control, Consumer Watchdog Says

Group Calls for 'Make-Me-Anonymous' Button On Home Page SANTA MONICA, CA -- The new Google Dashboard touted by the Internet giant as…

New Calls For Brown To Produce Docs In “Tapegate”

The consumer advocacy group at the center of the flap about Jerry Brown’s ex-spokesman secretly recording phone calls has sent a formal…

Pay-As-You-Drive Car Insurance Revs Up

Car insurance by the tankful? Not quite, but California moved a step closer last month to pay-as-you-drive policies that could allow motorists…

Your health reform: Powered by biofuels?

A final batch of amendments to the big House of Representatives health reform bill pokes a few sharp sticks at insurance companies.…

Jerry Brown Escapes Scrutiny?

Consumer groups, including Consumer Watchdog, immediately cried foul, alleging that Brown had changed the official ballot wording because Mercury had given him…

Big Bird’s Birthday: Part Of Google’s Charm Campaign?

For Big Bird's birthday, the Sesame Street icon's feet replaced the L in Google's search logo. Is Google pressing Big Bird into…

Microsoft vs. Google: When It Comes To The Cloud, It’s War

"All warfare is based on deception," goes the famous line attributed to Sun Tzu in the Art of War. It may very…

SF Chronicle calls on AG Brown to clear the air about secret tape recordings

The San Francisco Chronicle urged Cal. Attorney General Jerry Brown to "clear the air" today in an editorial about his now-resigned spokesman's…

Who said Joe Lieberman wasn’t hilarious?

Only the vastly under-seen cartoonist Tom Tomorrow could mash up the public option, Joe Lieberman and Harry Reid, and make a tragicomedy…

Jerry Brown’s Aide Quits Over Taped Calls

A spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Brown who admitted last week that he had secretly recorded telephone conversations with journalists, including a…

Just Say No – To Signature Gatherers

Mercury Insurance is behind a measure to roll back part of the 1988 Proposition 103 and allow insurance rates based partly on…

Health-Care Insurance Cheaper In The Suburbs

Firm's Data Show The Farther You live From Downtown Chicago, The Less Expensive Your Monthly Coverage. Judy Dugan, research director for Consumer…

California Consumer Advocate Slams Brown Over Taping Of Phone Calls

Ties To Insurance Company Questioned With the sudden announcement that San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom -- the rival to Attorney General Edmund…

For Those Denied Insurance Because Of Pre-existing Conditions, Health Reform Would Bring Major Change