Privacy

Viewpoints: Stem Cell Agency Needs To Seize Moment And Repair Its Governance

May 31, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The board overseeing California's stem cell agency will elect a new chairman this month to succeed Bob Klein, a moment that offers members an opportunity to correct the agency's dysfunctional management structure.</p> <p> They must also decide whether to pay Klein's successor nearly a half-million dollars.</p>

Online Privacy Bill Fails To Pass

May 28, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <strong>State measure would let people limit the data visible on social networking sites.</strong></p>

Google claims it doesn’t understand what Do Not Track means

May 24, 2011  ·  John M. Simpson

<p> I've just seen what has to be the lamest excuse ever to come out of the Googleplex. Apparently Google hasn't implemented a Do Not Track mechanism on its Chrome browser, because, <a href="http://paidcontent.org/article/419-why-google-hasnt-implemented-a-do-not-track-feature/">according to one of the Internet Giant's top privacy lawyers,</a> Keith Enright, the geeks in Mountain View "need more granularity and a more reasonable understanding of what it means to honor [Do Not Track] in a meaningful way."</p>

Growing Privacy Scrutiny of Mobile Could Lead to Legislation This Year

May 23, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Mobile firms such as Google, Facebook and Apple face growing regulatory scrutiny, with some sort of legislation looking increasingly likely.</p> <div id="content-area"> <p> This was apparent from the comments made at last week’s hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, according to privacy experts. It was the second time in two weeks that a Senate hearing focused on the mobile industry.</p>

Crossroads GPS New Health Care Reform Bill Ad Is “Pants on Fire”

May 23, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="pfhead"> <strong>The Politifact Truth-O-Meter Says: "Pants on Fire"</strong></div> <div class="ledestory"> <img alt="Crossroads GPS" class="mug" src="http://static.politifact.com.s3.amazonaws.com/politifact%2Fmugs%2FCrossroads_GPS_image.jpg" /> <h2 class="quotehed"> "Unions don’t have to comply with Obamacare."</h2> </div> <div class="sidebar statement-sidebar"> <img alt="Pants on Fire!" class="statement-detail" src="http://static.politifact.com.s3.amazonaws.com/rulings%2Ftom-pantsonfire.gif" /></div> <div> <p>

Google Says It Is Combating Illegal Ads

May 20, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 20 (UPI) -- U.S. technology giant Google Inc. said it is taking a proactive stance against illegal advertising, the subject of a U.S. Justice Department probe.<br /> <br /> "Google has a natural long-term financial incentive to make sure that the advertisements we serve are trustworthy," said company spokeswoman Diana Adair, The Washington Post reported Friday.<br /> <br />

Senate “tussle” is good for privacy protection

May 19, 2011  ·  John M. Simpson

<p> <img class=" size-full wp-image-2099" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/smartphonetracking.jpg" style="width: 240px; height: 181px;" width="480" height="361" />Politico Thursday described a turf battle between two powerful Senate Committees over privacy -- both have had hearings on smartphones and the mobile market -- and quoted some people as saying the power struggle doesn't bode well for needed privacy legislation.</p>

Is Google Profiting From Illegal Ads?

May 19, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> They’re impossible to miss online: all those ads hawking cheap drugs, penny stock fortunes, low mortgage rates and instant wrinkle-zapping solutions. For consumers, it’s not always obvious which operators are legitimate.</p>

Sen. Blumenthal demands answers on Wi-Fi privacy

May 19, 2011  ·  John M. Simpson

<p> <img class=" size-full wp-image-2094" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/uscapitol.jpg" style="width: 120px; height: 90px;" width="120" height="90" />The forty-state probe by attorneys general slowed after then Connecticut Attorney General Richard <a href="http://blumenthal.senate.gov/">Blumenthal was elected to the U.S. Senate</a>, but he clearly hasn't dropped his concerns.</p>

Google got away with Wi-Spy, why can’t I?

May 18, 2011  ·  Carmen Balber

<p> <img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2092" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/images_googleembedded1_2_0.jpg" style="width: 120px; height: 90px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" width="120" height="90" />A year ago this Saturday, German authorities revealed that <a href="http://insidegoogle.com/2010/05/dear-google-harm-or-not-you-fouled-up-on-privacy/">Google’s Street View cars had been surreptitiously collecting data from home wireless networks</a> in 30 countries around the world.</p>

Jamie Court: Browser Beater

May 18, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="content_body sm"> <p> <strong>Jamie Court is eating lunch</strong> and talking about Google. Or rather, he's speaking voluminously in a rat-a-tat of sentences about the Internet giant, between occasional fork-stabs of salad.</p> <p> It's four days before Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, is set to appear at a Sacramento press conference to announce the introduction of "Do Not Track Me" legislation in the California Senate.</p>

FCC Announces a Public Forum on Smartphone Location Tracking Systems

May 17, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The Federal Communications Commission has waded into the midst of the <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-04-24-apple-iphone-google-android-tracking.htm">roiling controversy</a> about location tracking systems built into Apple iPhones and Google Android smartphones.</p> <p> The FCC at 5 p.m. Eastern time today announced that it will hold a "public education forum" to which it has invited the telecom industry, smartphone operating systems suppliers, privacy groups and academia. The forum will be held June 28 in Washington D.C.</p>