Privacy

Congress To Weigh Google Books Settlement

September 10, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Others witnesses are likely to cast a more skeptical eye on the agreement, including John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit that has opposed the agreement; Randall Picker, a professor at the <a class="tickerized" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_chicago/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about the University of Chicago.">University of Chicago</a> Law School who has raised <a href="http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2009/04/the-google-book-search-settlement-a-new-orphanworks-monopoly.html">antitrust concerns</a>; and Marybeth Peters, the head of the United States Copyright Office, who has also <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/its-not-just-microsoft-thats-balking-at-googles-book-plans/">raised questions</a> about the deal.

Flurry Of Last-Minute Objections to Google Book Project

September 9, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog warned that "if the settlement were approved, it would give Google a default monopoly to books for which the rightsholders cannot be located, resulting in unfair competitive advantages to Google in the search engine, electronic book sales, and other markets."

Consumer Advocacy Groups Call For Internet Privacy Protections

September 8, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> A group of 10 consumer advocacy groups, including the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America, has called on the U.S. Congress to enact legislation to protect consumer privacy amid the growing use of Internet technology that tracks consumers’ online behavior. A bill is expected to be submitted this fall in the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet. </p>

As Deadline Passes, NWU, Consumer Watchdog Join Google Books Objectors

September 8, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The National Writers Union and Consumer Watchdog were among those to file briefs urging rejection as the Google Book Search Settlement deadline officially passed this morning. Although the final lineup of objectors won’t be known until all the last-minute briefs have been processed by the court, the groups join DC Comics, The American Society of Journalists and Authors, a coalition of some 58 authors and the Open Book Alliance (which includes Google competitors Microsoft and Amazon.com) in urging the court to reject the proposed settlement.

Privacy Groups Put Proposals To Congress

September 3, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

As Congress considers new privacy legislation, consumer and privacy groups have put forward their proposals for limiting online data collection. A coalition of groups including the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog and the Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted <a href="http://www.democraticmedia.org/doc/privacy-legislative-primer">its views</a> to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Group: Insurers Urged Workers To Fight Reform

September 2, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<div id="hn-headline"> NEW YORK, NY -- A consumer group says health insurers UnitedHealth and WellPoint pressured their employees to contact members of Congress and lobby against health care reform proposals that the companies disagreed with. In a letter to California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the group Consumer Watchdog maintains both companies violated state labor laws. The group said Brown should investigate the insurers based on comments they sent to employees last month, while Congress was in recess and debate about health care reform was highly publicized. </div>

Consumer Groups Slam Behavioral Tracking

September 2, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

A group of ten consumer groups on Tuesday called on Congress to enact meaningful privacy legislation, and slammed industry efforts as totally inadequate. The groups are most concerned about behavioral tracking, a technique used by Internet companies to serve up more targeted ads or results based on your Web browsing activities. Are you searching for information on Paris? You might see ads on the right-hand bar for travel deals or hotels, or links to blog posts about the French city.

Consumer Advocates Ask For FTC’s Help in Curbing Behavioral Targeting Tactics

September 2, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft employ behavioral targeting, in which cookies collect information on users' Web browsing habits, to better tailor online ad campaigns for Web surfing consumers. This practice doesn't sit well with consumer and privacy advocates, which urged Congress to crack down on behavioral targeting and asked the Federal Trade Commission to set up a registry to help users opt out of such practices.

Privacy Groups Press US Congress For Online Safeguards

September 2, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A coalition of consumer advocate and privacy groups on Tuesday urged the US Congress to protect the public from intrusive and often secretive tracking of their online activities and identity.

Privacy Group Coalition Urges Data Regulation

September 2, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>Ten consumer and privacy groups are urging Congress to limit the way online information can be used for advertising and profiling.</strong><br /> </p> <p> A coalition of ten consumer and <a href="http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=privacy&x=&y=">privacy</a> groups on Tuesday <a href="http://www.uspirg.org/newsroom/media-internet/media-internet-news/washington-d.c.-consumer-and-privacy-groups-urge-congress-to-enact-consumer-privacy-guarantees">urged Congress to draft new legislation</a> to preserve consumer privacy online by limiting behavioral advertising and establishing new ground rules for information collection and use. </p>

T-Mobile To Start Charging Customers For Receiving Bill In The Mail

September 1, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog and lead attorney in several lawsuits against the mobile industry, says Conner and other complainers may have legal grounds for their objection. He recently settled a lawsuit against Nextel Corp. for requiring consumers to pay for detailed billing statements back in 2003. As part of the settlement, Nextel agreed to refund customers. He says consumers are entitled to bills and invoices that itemize costs. "There's a lot of policy language in state and federal law that says consumers need to be able to determine the validity of a bill," he said. "You need to know if you're being overcharged, if you've received a promotional discount. You can't figure anything out from a bill if all they give you is a single un-itemized bill."

Privacy Groups Send E-Commerce Recommendations To Capitol

September 1, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Privacy advocates are gearing up to push for broad electronic privacy legislation this fall, hoping to convince lawmakers that businesses' self-regulation techniques are inadequate. The groups also say Internet companies' efforts don't go far enough. "Self regulation does not work. We've seen it in capital markets. We've seen it online," said Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson. </p>