Privacy

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.

Google Subsidiary To Run Nearby Federal Airfield

February 10, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S government has picked a Google subsidiary to run and renovate a federal airfield that is frequently used for the personal flights of the Internet company’s billionaire executives.</p>