Privacy

Burnham President Receives A Warning

January 13, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<div class="story-header"> <strong>Letter He Wrote Triggered Complaint, Investigation</strong> </div> <div class="story-header"> Although the letter did not prompt the institute staff to reconsider its decision, the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog organization complained to the political practices commission that Reed violated the state conflict-of-interest law. State Controller John Chiang also asked the commission to investigate.<br /> </div>

Burnham Chief Acted Improperly On Stem Cell Grant

January 13, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Burnham Institute president John Reed improperly tried to influence a grant decision by California's $3 billion stem cell program, a state ethics committee said last week. In August, 2007, Reed urged the stem cell program to reconsider a rejected grant application from an employee at Burnham. The group Consumer Watchdog alleged that Reed's action was forbidden as a conflict of interest. It filed a complaint with the commission in December of that year.

Calif. Panel Warns Stem Cell Agency Board Member

January 13, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The California Fair Political Practices Commission warned Dr. John Reed in an official letter that his effort to appeal the denial of a Burnham Institute grant application raised "ethical concerns." The letter was made public Monday by Consumer Watchdog, a public interest group that brought the conflict-of-interest accusation against Reed in late 2007.

Race for stem cell vice chair’s job heats up

January 9, 2009  ·  John M. Simpson

<p> The contest to be the next vice chair of the state stem cell board is heating up with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/KennedyLtr.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writing a letter endorsing </a>California State Democratic chairman Art Torres for the job.<br /> </p>

Model’s “skank” suit highlights Google privacy issues

January 7, 2009  ·  John M. Simpson

A model's suit to force <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/contact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google</a> to identify an anonymous blogger highlights the privacy issues surrounding many of Google's services.<br/> <br/> According to ...

Google Defends Privacy of Gmail Service

December 31, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

A Santa Monica, California-based nonprofit group that advocates for consumers is calling for the Internet’s search and ad leader to change the way it records users’ information. Officials with Consumer Watchdog say they want to see Google Inc. store personal search data for less than its current nine months, following Yahoo!’s lead, and also to give users a choice to “opt out” out of data retention, as some other search engines do.

High Borrowing Fees Sock Calif. Taxpayers

December 27, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

SACRAMENTO, CA -- California's need to borrow billions to handle its basic government expenses in a soured credit market is costing taxpayers millions of dollars in heightened bank fees. "Big banks seem to find a lot of ways to gouge the taxpayers," said Doug Heller of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based consumer advocacy group. "Between overcharging us for their bank work and then asking for free money in the form of massive bailouts, it's like they're getting us coming and going."

Stem cell board fails to muster quorum, skips cash request

December 24, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

California's stem cell board, the <a href="http://www.cirm.ca.gov/faq/pdf/Bio.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Independent Citizen's Oversight Committee (ICOC), was flummoxed again on Tuesday by its super majority requirement. The 29-member board failed to...

Group Demands Google Stop Keeping Data Against Users’ Will

December 24, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer advocacy group calls for Google to adopt an easy zero day data retention "opt out" provision<br/> <br/> One of the most controversial topics online is privacy. On the one hand there are the advertisers and content providers...

NYT weighs in for online privacy controls

December 24, 2008  ·  Jamie Court

<p> The oracle of progressive opinion, the New York Times editorial page, articulated the core concept for new privacy protection in America: "Internet users should be able to control how much of their personal data companies keep." </p>

California Stem Cell Agency Faces Cash Freeze

December 22, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>S.F. Institute Considers Its Options, May Sell Bonds Privately</strong> The global financial crisis may do what opponents of California’s $3 billion state-sponsored stem cell research experiment could not: dry up funding.

Unbelievable request for stem cell cash

December 22, 2008  ·  John M. Simpson

<a href="http://www.cirm.ca.gov/faq/pdf/Bio.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Directors of California's stem cell agency</a> are being asked Tuesday to approve a request for $420,000 so the <a href="http://www.isscr.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International...</a>