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Google Faces EU Antitrust Investigation Over Search
Google watchdogs for the Consumer Watchdog praised the Commission’s move but lamented the lack of such scrutiny of the search engine in the U.S. “It’s long been clear that Google unfairly uses its dominance in search to benefit its own services,” said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Inside Google project. “I’m pleased with the European announcement, but this is a U.S. company and it is past time for our authorities to act decisively.”
Continue reading...Groups Urge FTC To Probe Online Health Marketing
23. November 2010
Four public interest groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Tuesday urging the agency to investigate whether those offering online health information and services are engaging in unfair and deceptive advertising practices.
Continue reading...Privacy Groups Ask For Greater Oversight Of Pharma Ad Targeting
23. November 2010
A coalition of privacy groups and other advocates are asking the Federal Trade Commission to probe whether online health marketers engage in deceptive practices by tracking users across the Web in order to serve them targeted ads.
Continue reading...Privacy Groups Fault Online Health Sites for Sharing Personal Data
23. November 2010
QualityHealth is one of a number of companies cited in the complaint to the F.T.C. filed by four nonprofit privacy and consumer advocacy groups. In the complaint, the Center for Digital Democracy, U.S. PIRG, Consumer Watchdog and the World Privacy Forum charged that online marketing of medications, products and medical services posed fundamental new risks to consumer privacy and health because of sophisticated data collection and patient-profiling techniques.
Continue reading...Consumer Group Demands Hearing On Google ‘Wi-Spy’
11. November 2010
Ardent Google critic Consumer Watchdog has called on Congress to hold hearings on a major privacy breach by the Internet search engine giant, and insists that CEO Eric Schmidt should come to Washington to testify.
Continue reading...Group Claims Contradiction In Google Official’s Testimony
11. November 2010
Consumer Watchdog, one of Google’s most persistent critics called on the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday to hold a hearing into the firm’s Wi-Fi data collection controversy, citing a discrepancy in a Google official’s testimony on the matter during a Senate hearing in June.
Continue reading...FCC Picks Up Where FTC Left Off In Google Wi-Spy Case
11. November 2010
Two weeks after the Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation of online search giant Google’s Street View mapping project without taking action, another government agency is picking up where the FTC left off. Meanwhile, Consumer Watchdog on Thursday requested a congressional investigation and testimony under oath from Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Alma Whitten, the company’s director of privacy for engineering and product management.
Continue reading...Privacy Advocates Blast FTC’s Inaction Over Street View Spying
28. October 2010
“The White House deputy chief technology officer, Andrew McLaughlin, was formerly Google’s head of government affairs, and [Google CEO] Eric Schmidt was on a panel of economic advisors for President Obama’s transition team,” John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Inside Google project, told the E-Commerce Times. “If you asked me if I was surprised that that type of clout and influence could pay off for Google in this case, I would say ‘no,'” Simpson continued. “Do I have proof that it did? Again, I would have to say ‘no.'”
Continue reading...Critics Call For Congressional Hearings On Google’s Wi-Fi Data Harvesting
28. October 2010
Leading the call for Congressional oversight is John M. Simpson, managing director of the non-profit advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. Simpson calls this two-page letter the FTC sent to Google on Wednesday “premature and wrong. “
Continue reading...FTC Closes Google Privacy Inquiry
27. October 2010
Saying they are satisfied with privacy reforms Google announced last week, U.S. regulators have closed their inquiry into Google’s collection of data from unsecured private Wi-Fi networks through its Street View cars, a decision that was blasted Wednesday by online privacy advocates.
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30. November 2010