Privacy

Google’s Page Clueless When It Comes to Privacy Concerns About Glass

June 8, 2013  ·  John M. Simpson

<p>Google CEO Larry Page simply doesn't get it when it comes to privacy concerns about the Internet giant's new computerized eyewear, Google Glass.   He made that crystal clear at the annual shareholders's meeting Thursday.<br /> <img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2658" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/images_pageglass.jpg" style="width: 180px; height: 165px; margin: 7px; float: right;" width="180" height="165" /><br />

Is Government Data Mining Necessary To Keep Us Safe?

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The revelations in the Washington Post's report on <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html?hpid=z1" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html?hpid=z1">PRISM</a> trains the spotlight on a sticky dilemma.</p>

Reports: NSA, FBI Collecting Content from Google, Facebook, Other Services

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The U.S. National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation have access to servers at Google, Facebook, and other major Internet services, collecting audio, video, email, and other content for surveillance, the Washington Post and the Guardian reported on Thursday.</p>

FBI, NSA Mining Data from 9 Leading Internet Firms

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>New documents reveal that the National Security Agency and the FBI are secretly gathering data from nine large U.S. internet companies.</p> <p>The Washington Post reported that the secret wiretapping program codenamed PRISM may be unprecedented.</p> <p>The internet companies involved include Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple, the report said.</p> <p>The classified program allows the government agencies to extract audio, video, photographs, emails and documents to track individuals, according to the report.</p>

Google Critics Say The Eyes Don’t Have It

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Google shareholders, please turn off your Google Glass.</p> <p>The tech giant’s ban on recording devices at its shareholder meeting drew fire from a consumer watchdog group, which called the policy hypocritical considering that Google’s high-tech eyewear makes it possible to record video and sound with the blink of an eye.</p> <p>At the company’s annual meeting yesterday in Mountain View, Calif., John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog called the Web-connected eyewear “one of the most privacy intrusive, Orwellian devices ever.”</p>

Google Addresses Glass Privacy, Gun Ads, China

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span class="company">Google</span> (<a class="stockRoll" itemprop="tickerSymbol" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation" rel="StockSymbol.axd?symbol=GOOG">GOOG</a>) shareholders at the company's annual meeting late Thursday pressed executives on covert Glass photos, its ban on gun advertising and whether the search giant is growing its business in China.</p> <p>Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said Google's "revenue and advertising are growing very nicely" in China.</p>

Consumer Watchdog Calls Google Execs ‘Hypocrites’ for Banning Recording Devices from Stockholders Meeting

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/">Consumer Watchdog</a>, a nonprofit and nonpartisan consumer protection organization, is turning a critical eye on Google for banning recording devices from <a href="http://investor.google.com/proxy.html">today’s annual stockholders meeting</a>. After all, the technology company has just created <a href="http://socialtimes.com/designing-google-glass_b127292">Google Glass</a>, which is computerized eyewear that can record people without their knowledge.</p>

Google Accused of Hypocrisy Over Glass Ban at Shareholder Shindig

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>Strange things afoot in Google's bathrooms</strong></p> <p>Google's directors were accused of hypocrisy over a regulation banning attendees at its annual shareholder's meeting in California from wearing Google Glass hardware at the event.</p> <p>"Cameras, recording devices, and other electronic devices, such as smart phones, will not be permitted at the meeting. Photography is prohibited at the meeting," attendees were told, something that rankled with Consumer Watchdog's privacy policy director and Google shareholder John Simpson.</p>

Why Isn’t Twitter Part of the NSA PRISM Snooping Program?

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Microsoft was the first to <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2040991/report-nsa-prism-program-spied-on-americans-emails-searches.html">partner with the NSA</a> in 2007, according to the once-secret <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data">PRISM PowerPoint deck</a>. Other big-name tech companies followed, and even the obscure PalTalk joined the fray. But, quite conspiculously, Twitter never joined the government snooping program—there's no reference to the company in the NSA document.</p>

Banned! Google Glass Prohibited at Shareholder Meeting

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Tight security restrictions at Thursday's <a class="inline_quotes" data-gdsid="19004" data-inline-quote-symbol="GOOG" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/GOOG" target="_self" rel="noopener">Google</a> shareholder meeting led even the company's much-hyped Google Glass technology to be banned, infuriating a consumer watchdog group who accused the tech giant of hypocrisy.</p>

Quick Note: Google Bans Google Glass from Annual Shareholder Meeting, Is Called a Hypocrite

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span class="ArticleSummary" id="lblSummary">No electronic or recordable devices are allowed</span><br /> <br /> <span id="lblBody">Google's shareholder meetings are so private, not even its own products are allowed in.  Nonprofit organization Consumer Watchdog said Google executives are hypocrites for not allowing Google Glass into its shareholder meeting yesterday. <br /> <br />

Irony (noun) — Google Bans Google Glass at Its Annual Shareholders Meeting

June 7, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Every day, it seems the list of places geeks can wear their Google Glasses gets shorter and shorter. What about the Googleplex itself?</p> <p>Google held its annual shareholders meeting Thursday afternoon in Mountain View, and <a href="http://investor.google.com/proxy.html">banned</a> anyone from taking anything into the meeting that was capable of recording the proceedings—no cameras, no recording devices, no smartphones and no Google Glass.</p>