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Extension Lets You Know If Google Is Spying On You
Google has also come under scrutiny from Consumer Watchdog, which has said that the Energy and Commerce Committee must conduct hearings into Google privacy violations, with information coming to light about Google’s classified contracts with the US government. Consumer Watchdog suggests that Google has been fibbing.
Continue reading...Google Misses Deadline for L.A. City E-mail System
24. July 2010
Google Inc. has missed the deadline on its high-profile contract to take over Los Angeles’ e-mail system, leaving nearly 20,000 city employees on an aging system that the city is paying the Internet search giant $7.25 million to replace.
Continue reading...House Dems Block White House Witness in Google Email Breach
23. July 2010
At the hearing, a consumer watchdog testified that he believed the White House was too cozy with Google, and the company’s lobbying interests. “I do think that Google specifically has perhaps too close a relationship with the government,” said John Simpson, director of the Stem Cell Project. “I think Mr. McLaughlin’s appointment is one of those ties that are inappropriate.”
Continue reading...Is National Security Behind Google’s Wi-Fi Spying?
22. July 2010
“Is there some relationship between Google and the NSA (National Security Agency)?” asked Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. “Was this data shared with intelligence agencies in America? It’s a question. We just want a straight answer.”
Continue reading...Multi-State Probe Into Google WiFi Incident Announced
21. July 2010
Consumer Watchdog, a group that has been critical of Google on multiple fronts, praised the state effort but again urged Congress to hold a hearing on the issue. “Just as the CEO of BP was asked to explain the Gulf oil spill to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, so should Google CEO Eric Schmidt be required to testify about the gross intrusion into consumers’ privacy,” John Simpson, the group’s consumer advocate, said in a statement.
Continue reading...Google Lobbying Spending Nearly Doubles, $1.34M Spending Focused on Privacy
21. July 2010
This past quarter, Google spent $1.34 million on Washington lobbyists, an increase of 41% over last year’s spending during the same period. That brings the company’s lobbying money up to $2.72 million for the first half of 2010, according to Consumer Watchdog. With all that spending, who and what is Google trying to influence?
Continue reading...Google Has Been Fibbing About Data Mining
20. July 2010
Consumer Watchdog has said that the Energy and Commerce Committee really must conduct hearings into Google privacy violations, with information coming to light about Google’s classified contracts with the US government.
Continue reading...Update: Consumer Watchdog Will Testify at Thursday Web 2.0 Hearing
20. July 2010
The House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Information Policy has reversed itself and invited John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog to testify at Thursday’s hearing on federal agencies’ use of Web 2.0 technologies. The invitation to Simpson is dated Tuesday, one day after a subcommittee staff member informed Republican lawmakers that the hearing would feature only one panel of all government witnesses. Simpson is the lead advocate on Consumer Watchdog’s Google Privacy and Accountability Project and has been a harsh critic of the search giant in the past. He was also the only witness requested by Republican lawmakers.
Continue reading...Advocacy Calls for Congressional Hearings on Google Spying
20. July 2010
The Washington Post’s Top Secret America investigation about the vast scale and scope of U.S. government top-secret work, published this week, has revealed some troubling alliances with giant corporations to potentially spy on individual citizens. The Post identified 1,931 companies engaged in top-secret work for the government, including search giant Google. Citing revelations from the Post’s report, the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, is petitioning Congress to look examine whether Google’s Wi-Fi spying may be tied to Google’s government contracts.
Continue reading...Rivals Say Google Has Too Much Sway Over Administration’s Net Neutrality Policy
19. July 2010
Internet service providers cite e-mails between onetime Google executive Andrew McLaughlin, who now works for the White House, and his former colleagues as the FCC prepares to rewrite the rules governing broadband. John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog said the e-mails suggested that Google, an Internet behemoth with $23.7 billion in annual revenue, had too cozy of a relationship with the White House.
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28. July 2010