Privacy

Google Rates Its Own Washington Watchdog

February 23, 2009  ·  Carmen Balber

Since winning the grant last August, Consumer Watchdog has challenged Google privacy practices related to its Gmail electronic mail program and its Chrome Web browser. Last month, the group accused Google of lobbying Congress to weaken privacy protections for medical records stored in its Google Health program. “Their business model is incompatible with privacy,” says Jamie Court, Consumer Watchdog’s president.

CA’s Stem-Cell Agency Still Considers Issuing $400M in Debt Despite Deal to Balance Budget

February 23, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

California's stem-cell agency will stick to its plan of incurring debt by selling bonds to private investors despite an agreement hashed out by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislative leaders aimed at plugging a $42 billion shortfall. "Those BANs were sold when the economy was booming, riding high on the housing bubble. Today those sorts of investors are feeling the pinch like all the rest of us — perhaps in some cases even more so,” longtime CIRM observer John Simpson, stem-cell project director at Santa Monica-based nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, wrote in a commentary posted on his website earlier this month. “It is by no means clear that a significant amount can be raised for CIRM by selling bonds privately."<br />

Proposed stem cell biotech advisory group is a mistake

February 20, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The California stem cell agency Friday <a href="http://www.cirm.ca.gov/meetings/2009/020309_022009.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">holds its second meeting</a> aimed at the biotech industry to discuss revisions in its strategic plan. One proposal is a...

Consumer Privacy Advocates Seek Search Engine Solution

February 19, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<span></span><span class="articlepage"></span> No one knows more about us—our ailments, significant others, favorite music, what we’re thinking about buying, and how much we spend—than our search engines. Virtually all search engines gather information about how searchers query, what they click, and where they wind up. This personal information (i.e., IP addresses, cookies, session IDs) is stored alongside queries for anywhere between 90 days and forever. "I think most users simply don’t realize the amount of personal information they provide," says John M. Simpson, a consumer policy advocate with the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog.

Availability Of Online Health Records Sparks Privacy Concerns

February 16, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer advocacy groups, such as Patient Privacy Rights (PPR) and Consumer Watchdog, warn that such online records could pose a threat to patients' health privacy rights. PPR says the most recent health IT portion of the Senate version of the economic stimulus bill intoduces loopholes that allow the sale and misuse of personal health information.

Red-Flagged: Sagging Credit Scores Could Pull Wheels Off Economy

February 16, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

One detail effectively missing from the mainstream economic debate is consumer credit scores and their use for everything from buying homes to getting a cell phone. Credit scores should not be used to determine who is an insurance risk since they have no connection to someone’s propensity to file a claim, said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog, a California public advocacy group.

Request for stem cell conference money trimmed

February 12, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

A request for money from the California stem cell agency to help fund the <a href="http://www.isscr.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR</a>) annual meeting in San Francisco in 2010 as been trimmed to $250,000....

Poll: Medicare Should Be For Everyone

February 12, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

There's a new poll that shows a majority of Americans believe Medicare, the government-funded health plan for the elderly and disabled, should be expanded to include everyone. Danielle Karson has more. <a href="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/02/12/medicare_for_everyone/">Listen to the audio of this program</a>.

Campaign Donations Add Luxury To California Politics

February 9, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>Some lawmakers use the gifts to finance the good life, expenditure reports show.</strong> </p> <p> "It's so stomach-turning," said Doug Heller, executive director of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. "There should be a self-imposed prohibition on living the political high life when California's budget is in such disarray." </p>

Torres lists qualifications, goals in statement on stem cell post

February 6, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<br/> <a href="http://www.cadem.org/site/c.jrLZK2PyHmF/b.980187/k.CF94/Officers.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State Democratic Chairman Art Torres</a> has sent me ...

Stem cell agency in dire straits

February 3, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> California's stem cell board began <a href="http://www.cirm.ca.gov/meetings/2009/01-29-09.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last week's two-day meeting</a> with a much needed in-depth presentation from the staff on the agency's financial outlook. ...

Despite Money Woes, Stem Cell Institute To Award More Grants

January 31, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

"What really happened here is that it came home for the first time just how absolutely dire the state's financial situation is," John Simpson of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog organization said after the board meeting in Burlingame. "People are just beginning to wake up to how totally irresponsible it is of the governor and Legislature to not work out a solution to this horrible financial mess," Simpson said.