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How Google Gets Inside Browsers
The group Consumer Watchdog and some lawmakers asked publicly whether Google had violated last year’s settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission over an unrelated privacy breach. Some tech watchers said that while the company’s actions are certainly questionable, the full extent of the breach probably exceeded what Google had intended to do, as Google itself maintains.
Continue reading...Lawmakers Target Google’s Tracking
18. February 2012
“Google falsely told Safari users that they could control the collection of data…when in fact Google was circumventing the preference,” wrote John Simpson, the privacy-project director with the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. Another advocacy group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, also made similar charges.
Continue reading...Google, Safari And The Wild Web At War
17. February 2012
The day after a Wall Street Journal report that Google and other ad networks bypassed settings on Apple‘s Safari Web browser — which doesn’t allow certain third-party cookies — reactions are mixed. While some tech bloggers are saying, basically, that the WSJ report is blowing this thing out of proportion, one persistent Google critic, the Consumer Watchdog advocacy group, has reportedly already asked the FTC to investigate. And Microsoft, which is no friend of Google’s, has also weighed in and blasted its competitor. There’s no getting around it: This looks bad for Google, which lately seems to be putting out one PR fire after another.
Continue reading...Google Caught With Hand In Safari’s Cookie Jar
17. February 2012
Google is among a handful of companies that used a certain unusual characteristic of Apple’s Safari Web browser to insert tracking cookies on users’ machines, according to recent research from a Stanford grad student. The news has outraged consumer advocacy groups, though Google claims it was using known Safari functionality to provide features that signed in Google users had enabled.
Continue reading...Google Violated IPhone Users’ Privacy, Stanford Study Finds
17. February 2012
Google’s actions also prompted Consumer Watchdog to send a letter to the FTC and demand action against Google. “Safari users with the browser set to block third-party cookies thought they were not being tracked,” John Simpson, privacy project director of Consumer Watchdog, said in the letter. “Nonetheless, because of an element invisible to the user, but designed to mimic a form, DoubleClick was able to set tracking cookies in an obvious violation of the set preference.”
Continue reading...Google Caught Tracking Apple Users
17. February 2012
Consumer Watchdog, a frequent Google critic, accused the company of lying and urged the Federal Trade Commission to take “immediate action” to crack down on the “unfair and deceptive trade practices.”
Continue reading...Google’s Cookie Trick in Safari Stirs Debate
17. February 2012
The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Google violated a previous agreement with the agency, which required Google to be up front about privacy matters. It says Google manipulated Safari users into believing they could permanently opt out of targeted advertising, when in reality they couldn’t.
Continue reading...Google Hit With FTC Complaint, Says Circumventing Safari Privacy Features Accidental
17. February 2012
The Consumer Watchdog advocacy group today asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Google violated a previous privacy agreement with the FTC by tracking cookies in a way that circumvents default privacy settings in Apple’s Safari browser.
Continue reading...Google’s Tracking of Safari Users Could Lead to FTC Investigation
17. February 2012
Google’s alleged circumvention of do-not-track controls on Apple’s Safari browser could lead to big fines from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission if the agency. Consumer Watchdog, a privacy advocate that has been critical of Google, called on the FTC to investigate the company for unfair and deceptive business practices.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Wants Larry Page for Privacy Hearing
15. February 2012
The latest public letter was penned by Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project Director, John M. Simpson, and was addressed to the House’s subcommittee Chair Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and Ranking Member G.K Butterfield, (D-NC). It starts: “I am writing on behalf of Consumer Watchdog to urge you to call Google’s CEO Larry Page to testify before your committee to explain his company’s disingenuous statements about its supposed commitment to users’ privacy.”
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18. February 2012