Inside Google

Add a 4th category of lie: Googlespeak

John M. Simpson

You’ve probably heard the description of ways to mislead people that was attributed to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disreali and popularized in this country by Mark Twain: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” Now we can add a fourth: Googlespeak.

British privacy watchdog gets tougher in Wi-Spy scandal

Glenn Simpson

The United Kingdom privacy watchdog has finally joined eighteen other nations in investigating Google for its Wi-Spying, the Internet giant’s clandestine acquisition of personal user information from wireless networks while taking photographs for its Street View mapping service.

Google’s Wi-Spying broke Canadian law

John M. Simpson

Google violated Canadian privacy laws when its Street View cars gathered data from private wireless networks, Canada’s privacy commissioner said on Tuesday. More important, the investigation found a company with a lackadaisical commitment to privacy among its engineers. Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said the private data was gathered because of a ” a careless error – one that could easily have been avoided.”

Canadian Wi-Spy decision shows need for Congressional hearings

John M. Simpson

SANTA MONICA, CA — The Canadian Privacy Commissioner’s announcement today that Google’s Wi-Spying with its Street View cars broke the law demonstrates the need for U.S. Congressional hearings into the scandal, Consumer Watchdog said. According to Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart: “Our investigation shows that Google did capture personal information – and, in some cases, highly sensitive personal information such as complete e-mails. This incident was a serious violation of Canadians’ privacy rights.

Press Release

Google ‘definitions’ offer interesting insight into Internet giant

CONTACT: John M. Simpson

Struggling to find the definition for a word? Simply type “define: XXXX”, where XXXX is the word you’re asking about, into Google’s search box. Over at the New Yorker in an article called “Don’t Be Evil,” Simon Rich notes Google’s ability to serve up definitions. Then he has a little fun.

FTC chair raises “Do Not Track Me” idea; Congressional support grows

John M. Simpson

Support for Do Not Track Me legislation is growing in Washington with the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission telling ABC’s Good Morning America on Friday that “one of the things we are thinking about is a Do Not Track List.”

As governments tap user data, Google transparency lags

Margot Williams

Amidst a surge in governmental requests for private user data, Google’s openness effort is lagging, as the release of Google’s second transparency report shows. The report, released Tuesday, is a welcome sign of the search engine’s commitment to openness, but it is not a big improvement over the initial report last April.

Promise of ad industry self-regulation falls flat

Carmen Balber

I was at Google’s DC headquarters yesterday afternoon for the first event of AdWeek 2010 – the advertising industry’s annual conference in DC. I don’t know if one company always dominates the event, but this year seems to be an all-Google affair. As the only advertiser that’s a “platinum sponsor,” Google hosted, sat on, or was the topic of five panels — more indication that Google is king in the online ad world.

Three reasons to turn off creepy Google Instant (and how to do it)

Margot Williams

Google Instant is not for me. When I search, I don’t want Google to know where I am or what I like or to tell me things it thinks I am interested in. I don’t want a for-profit corporation to be what Sergey Brin wants Google to be – “the third half of your brain.”

Engineer’s abuse validates ice cream truck video; Google needs to answer questions

John M. Simpson

Sometimes satire becomes more true than anyone ever could imagine happening. News this week shows our video touted in Times Square and viewed more than 330,000 times is right on the mark. CEO Eric Schmidt is driving the Google ice cream truck and an engineer in the back has been invading kids’ privacy.