Inside Google

Rogue engineers flout Google privacy rules

Margot Williams

Google has fired an engineer for accessing the user accounts of four minors, according Gawker media. David Barksdale stalked and spied upon the teenagers while working as a Site Reliability Engineer at Google’s Kirkland, WA, office. Google told Tech Crunch this is the second time it has fired an engineer for privacy violations.

Google OKs critical ads after Consumer Watchdog’s letter to CEO Eric Schmidt

John M. Simpson

Google has now decided to run ads from Consumer Watchdog critical of the Internet giant’s privacy practices and aimed to promote a satirical animated video of CEO Eric Schmidt. Thursday Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court and I wrote Schmidt arguing that the company had a moral obligation to display advertising from critics.

Press Release

Our letter to Eric Schmidt: Google shouldn’t care more about its own privacy than ours

CONTACT: Jamie Court

Google’s mission may be to open the world to information, but it is refusing to let our consumer group buy a search advertisement promoting wildly popular online animation that takes CEO Eric Schmidt to task over his statements about privacy issues. It seems the search giant cares a lot more about its own corporate privacy, than it does about its users’ privacy.

Online views soar in overwhelming response to Inside Google video

John M. Simpson

Response to our video “Don’t Be Evil?” lampooning Google and its CEO Eric Schmidt’s attitude toward privacy has been overwhelming since we launched it with a jumbotron digital ad in New York’s Times Square last week. Views  soared past the quarter million mark on Monday of the three-day holiday weekend. The satirical video shows Schmidt […]

Press Release

Google settles ‘Buzz’ suit; Texas opens antitrust probe

CONTACT: John M. Simpson

There were two major legal developments Friday involving Internet giant Google as the nation focused its attention on the long Labor Day holiday weekend. Both merit recapping, but unfortunately one is less of a victory for consumers than it might first appear. The other development could be a hint of huge problems to come for Google.

We have taken the “Do Not Track Me” fight to Times Square!

Jamie Court

Right now, running twice an hour in Times Square, there’s a 540 sq. ft. animation of Google CEO Eric Schmidt giving little kids free ice cream and secretly gathering their personal information.
We put up the ad to make the public aware of how out of touch Schmidt and Google are when it comes to our privacy rights.

Watch our new Times Square video: Don’t Be Evil?

Jamie Court

Do you want Google or any other online company looking over your shoulder and tracking your every move online just so it can increase its profits? Consumers have a right to privacy. They should control how their information is gathered and what it is used for.

Watch our video, and sign our petition telling Congress to make a “Do Not Track Me” list.

Stephen Colbert: 1. Google: 0.

John M. Simpson

“Do Not Track Me” gains traction in Washington

John M. Simpson

I’m just back from a sweltering week in Washington, DC, convinced that those of us who care about protecting consumers’ online privacy have reason for optimism. There is growing interest in creating a “Do Not Track Me” list and mechanism to implement it.

Google moves to profit from its “crown jewels” — your data

John M. Simpson

A Wall Street Journal article this week details how Google is increasingly moving to maximize profits from the vast amount of personal data it has amassed in its global network of servers at the expense of consumers’ privacy. Google chairman Eric Schmidt once claimed Google put its money “where our principles are.” The Journal’s revealing article showing how profits triumph over privacy demonstrates the stark reality: Google puts its principles where the money is.