Privacy

Microsoft: Zero Data Retention Not Possible To Keep Search Engines Viable

December 18, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<span class="Article_Date"><span class="Article_Date"><span class="txt"> John Simpson, a privacy advocate for the non-profit consumer rights group Consumer Watchdog, said no less than a zero retention policy will suffice, arguing that since most users of Google or Yahoo return daily they are constantly providing a new stream of personal data. His group wants users to have the option to control their data and browse anonymously. </span></span></span>

Salary For CIRM Head Despite Deficit

December 17, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<font face="Arial, Helvetica"><font face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Outcry As Stem-Cell Agency Puts Chairman On The Payroll</strong><br /> </span></font></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica"><font face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 12px">Some, such as John Simpson of the taxpayer's group Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica, had objected to that figure, pointing out that the director of the National Institutes of Health makes about $200,000 a year. Simpson called the salary agreed by the board last week "at the high end of reasonable," and said that Klein will have new responsibilities: "Now that Klein is taking a salary he must truly act like a state employee, something he's not always done in the past."</span></font></font><br />

Search Engines Beef Up Privacy Policies

December 17, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>But Some Say Not Enough Data Are Purged </strong><br /> John Simpson, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, said in a statement, "If data is not completely anonymous, this is nothing more than PR." Simpson's consumer group called for major search engines to match the policy of IXQuick, a Danish search engine that deletes all personal data after 48 hours. </p>

Is Google neutral or not? Does it matter?

December 16, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122929270127905065.html#articleTabs_comments%26articleTabs%3Darticle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a> touched off a debate Monday in an article suggesting that Internet giant ...

Google removes ‘Beta’ label from Chrome, but browser still fails privacy test

December 12, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> I was surprised today when Internet giant <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/google-chrome-beta.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google today removed the "Beta"</a> or test label from its new Chrome browser. Four-year-old Gmail still carries the "Beta" label. Despite the changes, though, the Web browser still offers inadequate protection for users' privacy. </p>

Perata Shifted $1.5 Million from PAC to His Legal Defense

December 11, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The state Fair Political Practices Commission today will consider a new regulation that would require a candidate-controlled ballot measure committee such as Don Perata's Leadership California to raise and spend money only for one specific measure at a time, barring the kind of transfer Perata made last month to his legal defense fund. Carmen Balber, an advocate with Consumer Watchdog, wrote to the FPPC on Tuesday in support of the change, which has been in the works for about a year, saying such committees don't have reporting requirements and resemble "unregulated slush funds." </p>

Shutting Down Public Access TV

December 11, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>AT&T and L.A. City Hall Quietly Lead a National Push to Silence the Little Guy</strong><br /> For 19 years, Judy Dugan worked at the Los Angeles Times, where she rose to an influential job as the deputy editorial page editor. Dugan had worked with reporters who covered rough-and-tumble politics and thought she had seen it all. Then she caught Nunez's maneuvering in Sacramento to wipe out public access. "Even I was shocked by what I found," Dugan says. </p>

Board Sets Chairman’s Salary at $150,000

December 11, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> John Simpson, of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica, had proposed Klein's salary be capped at $200,000, about the same amount paid to the head of the National Institutes of Health. “The (board) took a tremendously important clarifying step today... by making it very clear the chairman's role is a half-time job,” Simpson said. “That's as it should be.” </p>

Klein Will Get Paid to Head CIRM

December 10, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The board had earlier established a full-time pay range for the CIRM chairman position at $275,000 to $508,750. Klein had requested that he start earning a salary. John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica-based group that tracks CIRM policies and spending, said it was "wildly inappropriate" for the board even to consider a salary at the upper end of that range.

Microsoft trumps Google on privacy

December 9, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Google's arch-rival, Mircrosoft, has just announced it will anonymize all private data it collects during online searches after six months if its competitors do the same thing.<br/> <br/> As explained by ...

Salary Plan At Stem Cell Institute Is Criticized

December 6, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Governor Cites State Deficit In Opposing Leaders' Pay</strong><br /> A consumer advocate who watches the institute's actions closely said he shares the governor's concerns about the chairman and vice-chairman salaries, calling them "wildly out of line in these economic times."

If you don’t vote in a darkened room does the public ever know?

December 6, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Kudos to Maplight.org and the California First Amendment Coalition, who filed suit this week to force the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/03/BAOK14H3OS.DTL">state’s legislative counsel to release</a> its voting record database.