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Sergey Brin Pounds Fists Against Walled Gardens
“Whenever Google raises the cry of defending Internet freedom, it’s always really about what’s best for Google’s business model,” John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog, told TechNewsWorld.
Continue reading...Industry, Privacy Advocates Offer Competing Views of ‘Do-Not-Track’
10. April 2012
John Simpson with Consumer Watchdog, which along with Chester’s group and other privacy advocates is backing the EFF/Mozilla proposal, argues that the industry’s proposal “has so many loopholes it’s meaningless.”
Continue reading...Franken, Consumer Groups Urge Obama to Push for New Online Privacy Rules
3. April 2012
Consumer Watchdog urged the Commerce Department to propose its own privacy legislation and push Congress to pass it. “Calls for action in policy papers are easy. The test of commitment is to translate high-minded principles like the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights into real legislative language,” the group wrote. It urged the Commerce Department to propose the legislation before moving forward with negotiations with Web companies.
Continue reading...‘Girls Around Me’ Shows a Dark Side of Social Networks
2. April 2012
John M. Simpson, the director of Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project, said even if people understand what data they’re sharing on social networks, they don’t expect it to be “reconfigured so they can be hit upon. Just because something is technologically possible is no justification for necessarily doing it,” he said.
Continue reading...Google Guns for Facebook With Third-Party Comment Platform
28. March 2012
“However Google configures this, it’s clear that it’s all about competing with Facebook and keeping users logged into Google’s services,” John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog, told TechNewsWorld. “Google is terrified of Facebook’s gains and is doing everything possible to fight them.”
Continue reading...FTC Releases Online Privacy Report: Does It Go Too Far? Not Far Enough?
27. March 2012
The FTC report is being celebrated by groups like nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, whose director John Simpson said in a statement: “The FTC’s support of Do Not Track means that consumers should have a meaningful way to control the tracking of their online activities by the end of the year.”
Continue reading...US Regulators Demand Consumer Privacy Protection
27. March 2012
“Data brokers buy, compile and sell a wealth of highly personal information about you, but there’s no way to find out what they have or if it’s correct,” John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project, said in a statement. “That’s why the FTC’s call for legislation in this area is so important.”
Continue reading...U.S. Agency Seeks Tougher Consumer Privacy Rules
27. March 2012
Consumer privacy advocates mostly favored the commission’s final report. “Data brokers buy, compile and sell a wealth of highly personal information about you, but there’s no way to find out what they have or if it’s correct,” said John M. Simpson, the head of Consumer Watchdog, which advocates for digital privacy. “That’s why the F.T.C.’s call for legislation in this area is so important.”
Continue reading...FTC Calls for Laws to Protect Consumer Privacy on Internet
27. March 2012
“An important consensus is emerging on the need to take significant steps to protect online privacy rights,” says John Simpson, spokesman for the non-profit Consumer Watchdog advocacy group.
Continue reading...FTC Online Privacy Report Lays Out New Standards
27. March 2012
John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project, said the FTC should have called for legislation on Do Not Track as well. But overall the report represents progress on data privacy, he said.
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16. April 2012