Privacy

Court Filings In Gmail Case Demonstrate Google’s Hypocrisy

February 25, 2014  ·  John M. Simpson

<p>Google's efforts to seal key documents in a class action suit in which the Internet giant is charged with violating<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2739" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/images_icon-gmail.png" style="width: 175px; float: right; height: 175px;" width="512" height="512" /> wiretap laws when it reads the contents of email messages on its Gmail service demonstrate hypocrisy at the company's core.<br /> <br />

Now Even Google Says Don’t Be A “Glasshole”

February 24, 2014  ·  John M. Simpson

<p>Looks like even Google is finally figuring out the innate privacy invasive properties of its wearable computing <img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2737" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/images_google-glass1.jpg" style="height: 175px; float: right; width: 218px; margin: 1px;" width="850" height="682" />device, Google Glass.  The Internet giant has posted a list of do's and don't's on its <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/glasscomms/glass-explorers">Glass website</a> that tells "Explorers" -- the first group of people to get access to Glass for $1,500 -- how not to be "Glassholes."<br /> <br />

Target Needs to Pay for Targeting Our Privacy

February 18, 2014  ·  Jamie Court

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2734" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/images_privacyshirtonmodel.jpg" style="width: 211px; height: 203px; float: right; margin-left: 4px; margin-right: 4px;" width="500" height="482" />110 million Americans had their personal financial information breached at Target. That 's one out of two adult Americans.<br /> <br /> I was in Sacramento today to testify in front of a joint California Assembly committee hearing investigating the breach. And yet Target did not send a single representative to Sacramento today to answer questions about the largest data breach in American history?<br /> <br />

No Silver Bullet For Credit Card Fraud But Microchips Will Help

February 18, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="loose"><span class="SS_L3"><span class="verdana">SACRAMENTO — Credit cards embedded with microchips, which have dramatically reduced fraud around the world, are on their way to U.S. consumers, financial experts told California lawmakers on Tuesday. </span></span></p>

Comcast To Buy Time Warner Cable For $45 Billion

February 14, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Comcast Corp. will buy Time Warner Cable Inc. for about $45.2 billion in a deal that combines the nation's top two cable TV companies and would create a dominant force in both creating and delivering entertainment to U.S. homes.</p> <p>The all-stock deal was approved by the boards of both companies. It is expected to close by the end of the year, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.</p>

Mega-Merger Would Unite Comcast, Time Warner Cable

February 13, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>New York (AFP) - Comcast unveiled plans Thursday to swallow Time Warner Cable in a deal uniting the two largest US cable operators, triggering calls to block the creation of a sector superpower.<br /> News of the $45.2 billion deal raised regulatory concerns about the reach of Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal's film and television assets and is one of the largest providers of cable Internet.<br /> <br />

Neutrality Advocates Gear Up To Fight Comcast-Time Warner Merger

February 13, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Comcast's planned $45 billion merger with Time Warner could wreak havoc on the open Web, consumer groups say.</p>

Consumers Are Charged More As A Result of Google’s Search Monopoly

February 12, 2014  ·  John M. Simpson

Read the report here.

Google Subsidiary Wins Rights To Restore Iconic Hangar One And Manage Moffett Field

February 11, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Planetary Ventures, a company operating under the umbrella of Google, has been awarded by the General Services Administration (GSA) and NASA to renovate and manage the Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, California.</p> <p dir="ltr">The U.S. GSA announced, after a comprehensive review process, its decision, Monday, paving the way for the takeover of Planetary Ventures of the airfield that served as a base for the U.S. Navy. The airport was formerly operated and Managed by the Ames Research Center of NASA.</p>

Google’s Promises To EU Not Good Enough For US Consumer Group

February 10, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A U.S. consumer group on Monday added its voice to the growing criticism of Google’s proposed settlement with the European Union’s competition authorities.</p> <p>“We had been impressed with the strong position the Commission had taken in your investigation, unlike regulatory authorities in the United States,” wrote John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project director in a letter to the Commission on Monday. “We cannot understand what prompted this recent change in attitude.”</p>

NTIA Gathers Stakeholders For Facial Recognition Talks

February 10, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The National Telecommunications and Information Administration Feb. 6 convened the first of a series of multistakeholder meetings aimed at crafting a voluntary privacy code of conduct for commercial uses of facial recognition technology.</p> <p>Larry Strickling, administrator of the NTIA, a division of the Commerce Department, told stakeholders at the kick-off meeting that the agency will remain a throughout the process and will avoid imposing its own views.</p>

Google Wins Right To Lease Moffett Field, Will Restore Hangar One

February 10, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Google has long operated its fleet of private jets out of NASA’s Moffett Field thanks to a long-standing deal with the U.S. government, but it looks like it’s ready to expand its presence at the Silicon Valley airfield. The U.S.