Privacy

Congress Needs to Search for Google Transparency

June 19, 2012  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <em><strong>Originally posted on 6.18.2012 on POLITICO. You can view it <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77537.html">here</a>.</strong></em><br /> <br /> A billionaire media mogul is forced to take responsibility after his employees hack into the private communications of families and use the information for his media empire’s profit. He insists top executives did not know and a few rogue employees were to blame. But the evidence contradicts him.<br /> <br />

Google CEO Page Should Testify To Congress As News Corp. CEO Murdoch Had To Answer To Parliament Says Consumer Watchdog

June 19, 2012  ·  John M. Simpson

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Coalition to Facebook: Please Don’t Market to Our Kids

June 18, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> No ads for our tweens on Facebook. That's the gist of a letter written to Facebook CEO <a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/economy-business-finance/computing-information-technology-industry/mark-zuckerberg-PEBSL000091.topic" id="PEBSL000091" style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; " title="Mark Zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</a> from a coalition of consumer, privacy and child-advocacy groups.</p>

FTC Commissioner Brill: Make privacy a basic consumer right

June 12, 2012  ·  John M. Simpson

<p> <img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2203" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/images_johndrawingname.gif" style="width: 133px; height: 200px; float: right;" width="133" height="200" />Fifty years ago then President Kennedy spelled out what he considered <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Bill_of_Rights">four basic consumer rights.</a>  Over the years four more were added. Now <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/brill/120605tacdremarks.pdf">FTC Commissioner Julie Brill says</a> its time to include another: Privacy.<br /> <br />

You can just say ‘no’ to TSA’s electronic strip-search

June 7, 2012  ·  John M. Simpson

<p> <img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2203" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/images_johndrawingname.gif" style="width: 133px; height: 200px; float: right;" width="133" height="200" />If you fly you've probably encountered the Transportation Security Administration's highly intrusive and probably ineffective backscatter body scanners. Some security experts describe the technology that produces detailed, three-dimensional images of you as the equivalent of "a physically invasive strip-search."<br /> <br />

What is Google’s Online Tracker Really Saying About Us?

June 7, 2012  ·  Jamie Court

<p> This smart jamming video of Google's "Chrome: Coffee" commercial explains what the Internet Goliath really thinks about us and our personal information.<br /> <br /> Created by a technologist, the video shows how Google's turning us into a product by finding out more and more about us in order to serve us up to corporate advertisers, which provide 99% of Google's revenue.<br /> <br /> This is a must see for those who care about their privacy.</p> <p align="center">  </p>

Microsoft’s privacy “enhancements” more complex than they first appear

June 5, 2012  ·  John M. Simpson

<p> <img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2203" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/images_johndrawingname.gif" style="width: 133px; height: 200px; float: right;" width="133" height="200" />Microsoft has just announced that the newest version of its popular browser, Internet Explorer 10, will come with the privacy friendly feature, "Do Not Track" already turned on by default.  Now since I've been pushing for Do Not Track implementation for at least the last two years, I should be rejoicing, right?<br /> <br />

Google: The Internet is what we make of you

June 5, 2012  ·  John M. Simpson

<p> <img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2203" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/images_johndrawingname.gif" style="width: 133px; height: 200px; float: right;" width="133" height="200" />Have you seen the cloying and annoying video produced by Google called "Google Chrome: Coffee"?  It tells the tale of a man using the Internet to get back in the good graces of his estranged girlfriend.  <br /> <br /> It ends with him asking her to join him for a cup of coffee and concludes with the tagline, "The web is what you make of it."<br /> <br />

Trust Busters Put Google In Crosshairs

June 2, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Federal regulators are weighing whether to sue Google for engaging in anti-competitive conduct, an action that could prove devastating for the Internet giant.</p> <p> The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating whether Google manipulates its search results to ensure that its own services, such as YouTube, Google Maps and Google Plus, appear above its rivals.</p> <p> Google's competitors argue that the company shouldn't be allowed to use its dominant search engine — which has about a 65 percent market share — to stifle competition.</p>

Group Wants Privacy Protection in Self-Driving Car Bill

June 1, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Nonprofit group <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/">Consumer Watchdog</a> has published an <a href="http://www.sandiegoreader.com/documents/2012/may/31/consumer-watchdog-letter-unmanned-google-cars/">open letter</a> to state assembly speaker John Perez seeking amendments to SB 1298, which would allow Google to legally operate its self-driving cars on California roadways.</p>

Privacy Group Voices Concerns Over Google-Backed Autonomous Vehicle Legislation

June 1, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

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Thursday Poll: Should Driverless Cars Protect Privacy?

May 31, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Wow. We hadn’t thought of this.</p> <p> You may have heard that Google has been experimenting with a driverless car, even letting a<a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/gettingthere/blind-man-drives-to-taco-bell/2874/"> <strong>blind man</strong> </a>take one through a Taco Bell drive through.</p> <p> It’s an intriguing concept we polled about once before. In <a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/gettingthere/thursday-poll-would-you-buy-a-driverless-car/3235/"><strong>that poll</strong></a>, 55 percent said they’d be interested in buying one.</p>