Archive | 2010
As governments tap user data, Google transparency lags
Amidst a surge in governmental requests for private user data, Google’s openness effort is lagging, as the release of Google’s second transparency report shows. The report, released Tuesday, is a welcome sign of the search engine’s commitment to openness, but it is not a big improvement over the initial report last April.
Continue reading...Promise of ad industry self-regulation falls flat
21. September 2010
I was at Google’s DC headquarters yesterday afternoon for the first event of AdWeek 2010 – the advertising industry’s annual conference in DC. I don’t know if one company always dominates the event, but this year seems to be an all-Google affair. As the only advertiser that’s a “platinum sponsor,” Google hosted, sat on, or was the topic of five panels — more indication that Google is king in the online ad world.
Continue reading...Three reasons to turn off creepy Google Instant (and how to do it)
20. September 2010
Google Instant is not for me. When I search, I don’t want Google to know where I am or what I like or to tell me things it thinks I am interested in. I don’t want a for-profit corporation to be what Sergey Brin wants Google to be – “the third half of your brain.”
Continue reading...Dear Google: Do Not Track Me
17. September 2010
“That’s kind of a fundamental human right,” argued John Simpson, an advocate with Consumer Watchdog. “The books that people have been taking out of the library are not something that’s shared, and librarians have fought to maintain that. Generally, you can’t go in and say, ‘What’s my wife been reading on her library card? What’s my son been reading on our library card?’ It’s private. In the same way, the Internet is a great source of information, and people ought to be able to consider that their activity online is private in the same way. The fact of the matter is that it’s not right now.”
Continue reading...Google engineer’s privacy problems should spur Internet giant to answer four key questions about users’ privacy, Consumer Watchdog says
16. September 2010
SANTA MONICA, CA — The consumer group that recently launched a popular online animated satire of Google’s privacy problems embodied in an ice cream truck said the revelation that a Google engineer tracked children down shows that private information is never safe if it is in Google’s hands. Consumer Watchdog called on Google to publicly answer some basic questions about how effectively it protects consumers’ privacy.
Continue reading...Engineer’s abuse validates ice cream truck video; Google needs to answer questions
15. September 2010
Sometimes satire becomes more true than anyone ever could imagine happening. News this week shows our video touted in Times Square and viewed more than 330,000 times is right on the mark. CEO Eric Schmidt is driving the Google ice cream truck and an engineer in the back has been invading kids’ privacy.
Continue reading...Rogue engineers flout Google privacy rules
15. September 2010
Google has fired an engineer for accessing the user accounts of four minors, according Gawker media. David Barksdale stalked and spied upon the teenagers while working as a Site Reliability Engineer at Google’s Kirkland, WA, office. Google told Tech Crunch this is the second time it has fired an engineer for privacy violations.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Invites Google To Participate In Internet Policy Conference
14. September 2010
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today invited Google to participate in a conference, “Google, The Internet And The Future,” that the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group plans to host in Washington this fall as part of its Inside Google project. The invitation came in a letter to CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. It was prompted by Google’s promotional campaign this week in Washington highlighting its privacy tools and a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition hearing Thursday on competition in digital markets.
Continue reading...Google OKs critical ads after Consumer Watchdog’s letter to CEO Eric Schmidt
10. September 2010
Google has now decided to run ads from Consumer Watchdog critical of the Internet giant’s privacy practices and aimed to promote a satirical animated video of CEO Eric Schmidt. Thursday Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court and I wrote Schmidt arguing that the company had a moral obligation to display advertising from critics.
Continue reading...Google Rejects, Then Approves, Anti-Google Ads
10. September 2010
On Thursday, Consumer Watchdog complained about the ad rejection in an open letter published on its site, and a Google representative confirmed Friday that Google had overturned the original decision but did not admit making any error. “As the trademark owner, upon becoming aware of their letter, we decided–regardless of whether these particular ads violate our policies or not–to authorize them to run,” a Google representative said.
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22. September 2010