Privacy

FTC chair raises “Do Not Track Me” idea; Congressional support grows

October 8, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Support for Do Not Track Me legislation is growing in Washington with the chairman of the <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/">Federal Trade Commission</a> telling<em> <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/">ABC's Good Morning America</a></em> on Friday that "one of the things we are thinking about is a Do Not Track List." </p>

Hellraising With Jamie Court

October 6, 2010  ·  Jamie Court

Acclaimed consumer advocate Jamie Court has used his activist know-how to leverage huge changes for average people over the past two decades. President of Consumer Watchdog, he has mastered the art of turning anger into change, and his new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Progressives-Guide-Raising-Hell-Grassroots/dp/1603582932/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284582262&sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"The Progressive Guide to Raising Hell"</a>, is a toolkit for direct democracy - a step-by-step guide for citizens to pressure the right people and use the right tactics to get the change they want. <p>   </p>

Advertising Week Hints At Better Times

October 3, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> On Tuesday, Google revealed its seven predictions about online display advertising in 2015 at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Mixx conference. The next day, the group Consumer Watchdog placed a digital ad in Times Square that called Google “chicken” for not accepting invitations to debate issues about the online privacy of consumers.Here is a look back at some of the highlights, lowlights and sidelights of the seventh annual Advertising Week, which took place from Monday through Friday in New York.</p> <p>  </p>

‘Raising Hell’ – Consumer Watchdog Puts the Bite on Plans to Price People Off the Internet

September 30, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Whenever I think it can’t get any weirder in US politics and social progress, things always get weirder. Is it me? Am I over-dramatizing, or is this how some Germans felt as the Nazis began to garner popular support in the 1930s? Upton Sinclair, writer, muckraker and author of the novel “The Jungle,” which exposed the horrific conditions of the meat-packing industry, said, “When fascism comes to America, it’ll be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” Sure enough, Christine O’Donnell — the winner of the Republican primary in Delaware — has her flag-and-cross street credentials. </p>

Google Called Chicken for Dodging Privacy Debate

September 30, 2010  ·  John M. Simpson

The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is broadcasting <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=jumbotron&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&client=firefox">Jumbotron </a>video ads all this week in the heart of New York's Times Square to mock Google as a big chicken for dodging a privacy debate. The timing is not accidental. The Big Apple is in the midst of a week-long conference fest called AdWeek, in which Google has a large presence.

Google continues buying binge, maintains image as innovator

September 28, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Internet giant Google is leading led the tech sector in acquisitions this year, buying almost twice the number of companies as second place IBM. </p> <p> The data, compiled by ...</p>

Apple, Google, Intel, Other Tech Firms Admit Secret Agreements To Not Poach Employees

September 27, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Google critic John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog's Inside Google project, praised the crackdown, saying, "There is entirely too much of a clubby mind-set among a number of Silicon Valley companies.'' And that raises other questions, he said: "If you cut deals around how you hire people, you might also cut deals on what prices you charge, or maybe you'll divvy the market up inappropriately."

Gaga introduces filibuster to the Monster Ball

September 22, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> How many people know about the Senate's procedural breakdown since <a href="http://twitter.com/Ladygaga">Lady Gaga tried to weigh in</a> on a gay rights issue, and ended up in the middle of a fight to reform the filibuster? </p>

Calif Group Airs Anti-Tea Party Ad In Times Square

September 22, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<div id="hn-headline"> NEW YORK — A California consumer-advocacy group is hoping to rally the left before the November election with an ad on a Times Square video screen that labels the tea party movement as "insane." The 30-second spot by Consumer Watchdog, which began airing Tuesday, flashes phrases such as "home foreclosures" and "Wall Street greed" across a 520-square-foot screen as flames burn in the background. It asks viewers, "Are you mad as hell but think the tea party is insane?" </div> <div id="hn-headline"> <br /> </div>

As governments tap user data, Google transparency lags

September 22, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Amidst a surge in governmental requests for private user data, Google’s openness effort is lagging, as the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/tools-to-visualize-access-to.html">release of Google's second transparency report</a> shows. The report, released Tuesday, is a welcome sign of the search engine’s commitment to openness, but it is not a big improvement over the initial report <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/greater-transparency-around-government.html">last April</a>. The new report documents <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/governmentrequests/">government requests</a> for user data and removal of content from Google sites, as well as governmental disruptions of <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/traffic/">Internet traffic to Google</a> services. </p> <p> <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/tools-to-visualize-access-to.html"></a> </p>

Promise of ad industry self-regulation falls flat

September 21, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

I was at Google's DC headquarters yesterday afternoon for the first event of <a href="http://www.advertisingweekdc.com/node/7">AdWeek 2010</a> - the advertising industry's annual conference in DC. I don't know if one company always dominates the event, but this year seems to be an all-Google affair.

Three reasons to turn off creepy Google Instant (and how to do it)

September 20, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Google Instant is not for me. When I search, I don’t want Google to know where I am or what I like or to tell me things it thinks I am interested in. I don’t want a for-profit corporation to be what ...</p>