Privacy

Google Under Investigation

July 13, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog's Inside Google, an investigative branch of Watchdog, has completed an investigation on the data collection practices of Google. It appears that the vehicles taking pictures for the Google Street View application on Google Maps have been also been scanning local wireless networks. Now members of Congress are pushing congressional hearings based on what they've found.

Oz Privacy Boss Says Google Wi-Fi Slurp Breached Law

July 10, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Watchdog: US Congresspeople Were Slurped (Maybe)</strong> <div id="body"> <p> In an effort to spur a Congressional investigation in the States, the consumer watchdog known as Consumer Watchdog has retraced Street View's past Washington D.C. routes and found that various members of Congress have open Wi-Fi networks whose data may have been lifted by the Google cars. The watchdog wrote a letter to Representative Jane Harman, chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment and a former ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, telling her that Google may have lifted her personal info. </p> </div>

Consumer Group Sniffs Congresswoman’s Open Wi-Fi

July 9, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

We’re not sure what’s more humorous: That California Rep. Jane Harman, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, maintains two unencrypted Wi-Fi networks at her residence, or that a consumer group sniffed her unsecured traffic in a bid to convince lawmakers to hold hearings about Google.

Google Steet View Privacy Controversy Touches Congress

July 9, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Consumer Watchdog accuses Google of breaching the home WiFi networks of prominent lawmakers as part of its Google Street View snafu. To bolster its point, the group conducted some so-called wardriving to see if it could find unencrypted networks. In doing so, however, some say Consumer Watchdog went too far.</strong>

Comcast to Hike Rates Across Marin

July 9, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Comcast is boosting the price of cable TV and Internet service in Marin County and the rest of Northern California, where 2.3 million customers face bills almost 4 percent higher next month. Consumer advocates chided Comcast for hiking the basic rate by a higher percentage than other programs. "For most people, cable is the way they get their television," said John M. Simpson of Consumer Watchdog. "They ought to have some responsibility to make that basic service as affordable as possible."

Google Removes WiFi Gear from Street View Cars

July 9, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>Google has removed any equipment used to collect WiFi data in its Street View cars, which have resumed their tours of Sweden, Ireland, Norway and South Africa at the approval of regulators.</strong> </p> <p> Meanwhile, Consumer Watchdog said July 8 that Google's WiSpy snooping could have sucked up and recorded communications from members of Congress. The consumer advocacy group said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chair of the Intelligence Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee, has at least one wireless network in her Washington, D.C., home that could have been breached by Google. </p>

Google Downplays Claim It May Have Breached Lawmakers’ Home Networks

July 9, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Consumer Watchdog finds unprotected network at U.S. Rep.’s home that appears on Google Street View</strong> <p> Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based advocacy group that has been a sharp critic of Google’s privacy practices in the past, said Thursday that the search giant may have breached the networks while its vehicles were collecting wireless SSID information for the company’s Street View service. </p>

Google Accused of US “Snooping”

July 9, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Google’s popular Street View project may have collected personal information of members of Congress, including some involved in national security issues. </strong> <p> The claim was made by leading advocacy group, Consumer Watchdog which wants Congress to hold hearings into what data Google’s Street View possesses. </p>

German Legal Action for Facebook

July 8, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Consumer Watchdog said it was not surprised that Europe was driving this latest legal action against Facebook. "There are much stronger privacy laws in Europe than here, where privacy is viewed as a consumer protection issue as opposed to a fundamental human right," the group's John Simpson told BBC News. "We see that a number of Silicon Valley companies don't really understand how seriously privacy issues are taken in Europe and they will continue to run afoul of data protection laws there. I also think there is a growing reaction in the US that we should beef up our privacy laws along the lines of those in Europe." </p>

Sniffing in StreetView’s Tracks

July 8, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog, which has emerged as one of the main anti-Google agitators, decided to follow in the tracks of the StreetView cars – literally. It sent out its own vehicle to “sniff” the WiFi networks of certain members of the US Congress whose homes have been photographed by the Google service. <p>   </p>

Consumer Watchdog Wades Into ‘SpyFi’ Fiasco

July 8, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

COULD GOOGLE SPY-FI SNIFF OUT LAWMAKERS? Maybe, stresses Consumer Watchdog, a longtime, vocal Google critic. The group plans to make the case at a press conference on Thursday that Google’s Street View team not only intercepted unsuspecting Web users’ data transmitted over unsecured private networks, but is capable of doing the same with lawmakers’ sensitive information as well.

Consumer Group Says Google May Have Tapped State Secrets

July 8, 2010  ·  Carmen Balber

To find out, Consumer Watchdog picked five members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and drove around their D.C. homes. Using software downloaded from the Internet, they determined one of the five - Democrat Jane Harman of El Segundo - was using two unsecured networks.