Archive | January, 2011
Google Spent More on Lobbyists in 2010 Than Yahoo, Facebook & Apple Combined
Google’s increasing monetary dedication to influencing policy decisions worries some privacy advocates who oppose the company’s policies. “It’s a huge increase and shows that Google has become a high-stakes influence peddler throwing its weight around Washington like the rest of corporate America,” says John Simpson, a privacy advocate with Consumer Watchdog, a group that regularly opposes Google’s decisions.
Continue reading...Google Won’t Be Taken To Court Over Data Gather
31. January 2011
Consumer Watchdog, a group which has been highly critical of Google’s privacy practices, condemned the agreement to settle the issue through negotiations and called for congressional hearings on the subject.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Calls On Google To End Secrecy As Lobbying Hits $5.2 Million
31. January 2011
SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog today called on Google to end the secrecy surrounding its lobbying efforts in Washington after the Internet giant refused to release an 89-page presentation it is showing to policymakers and regulators in the nation’s capital. The call came as the Internet giant’s lobbying spending soared to $5.2 million in 2010 from $4.03 million in 2009.
Continue reading...Google Reaches Agreement With Connecticut AG Over Wi-Spy
30. January 2011
Frequent Google critic Consumer Watchdog blasted the announcement and repeated its call for outgoing Google CEO Eric Schmidt to explain the incident to lawmakers. “The details of the biggest privacy breach in history shouldn’t be settled in secret,” said John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Inside Google Project. “This makes it clear why Google CEO Eric Schmidt needs to testify under oath before Congress about Wi-Spy.”
Continue reading...Google to Settle State ‘Wi-Spy’ Spat Out of Court
29. January 2011
Consumer Watchdog decried today’s agreement between Google and the state. “The details of the biggest privacy breach in history shouldn’t be settled in secret,” said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Inside Google Project. “This makes it clear why Google CEO Eric Schmidt needs to testify under oath before Congress about Wi-Spy.”
Continue reading...NASA Accused of Favoritism at Moffett
28. January 2011
The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has issued a report criticizing Mountain View-based Google’s “cozy” relationship with the federal government, using the controversial deal for “AirGoogle” to use Moffett as the most visible example, and calling out NASA for playing favorites with Google on Moffett’s airfield.
Continue reading...Connecticut AG’s Wi-Spy Deal With Google Shows Need for Congressional Hearings, Consumer Watchdog Says
28. January 2011
SANTA MONICA, CA — Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen’s deal with Google announced today makes it clear that Congressional hearings will be necessary if the American public is to understand fully what happened in the Wi-Spy scandal, Consumer Watchdog said.
Continue reading...Neither Sleet Nor Snow Stops Video Van
28. January 2011
Despite a six-hour commute home on what should have been a 20 minute drive after Wednesday’s snowstorm, our mobile ad truck braved the streets again in this morning’s flurries so “Mr. Schmidt Goes to Washington” could crash a “World Privacy Day” event at Google’s lobby shop in DC.
Continue reading...Consumer Critic Dings Outgoing Google CEO in Carton Video
27. January 2011
A consumer advocacy group has hired a van to drive around the streets of Washington D.C. playing an animated cartoon lampooning Google’s outgoing CEO Eric Schmidt for previous statements he’s made concerning Internet privacy.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Blasts Google’s Schmidt
27. January 2011
Consumer Watchdog receives no funding from Microsoft or any other competitor of Google, John Simpson, consumer advocate with the group, told PC World. “We don’t have any relationship with Microsoft at all … We don’t take any of their money,” he said. Simpson said the group has decided to focus on Google’s privacy practices because the company’s services serve as a gateway to the Internet for many people. If the group can push Google, “without a doubt the dominant Internet company,” to change its privacy practices, other companies will follow suit, he said.
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31. January 2011