The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, which has been critical of the amount of personal data Google stores, called the dashboard a small step in the right direction. "If Google really wanted to give users control over their privacy it would give consumers the ability to be anonymous from the company and its advertisers in crucial areas such as search data and online behavior," spokesman John M. Simpson said on the group's Web site. "The Dashboard give the appearance of control without the actual ability to prevent Google from tracking you and delivering you to its marketers."
Continue reading...Thursday, November 5, 2009
Critics Say Google Makes Some Privacy Progress, But Call For More Transparency Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit advocacy group formerly known as the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said in a statement today that it applauds Google for giving users a single place to go to manage their data. But at the same tine, the group also came down hard on Google, contending that it needs to give users a vehicle for stopping the company from collecting any personal data. The company should also provide a way for users to delete their information from Google's servers, the group added.
Continue reading...Thursday, November 5, 2009
Google launched an application Thursday that allows users to see what data is stored in their accounts, but at least one group says the effort doesn't go far enough. The Google Dashboard is "designed to be simple and useful" and summarizes data for a range of products from e-mail and calendar applications to social networking and video sharing platforms. Consumer Watchdog, a group that has repeatedly thrashed Google for its advertising and privacy protection practices, said the Internet giant should let users opt out of tracking and delete information associated with their computer's IP address from Google's servers.
Continue reading...Thursday, November 5, 2009
Google, which has been criticized frequently for amassing large amounts of data about people, is giving users an easy way to find out what information it stores in their accounts. John Simpson, of Consumer Watchdog, a frequent critic of Google, said Dashboard gave users the appearance of control over privacy but did not really prevent Google from tracking users across the Web. “What the Dashboard does is list all the information linked directly to your name, but what it doesn’t do is let you know and control the data directly tied to your computer’s IP address, which is Google’s black box and data mine, Mr. Simpson said in a press release. “Google isn’t truly protecting privacy until it lets you control that information.”
Continue reading...Thursday, November 5, 2009
Google, which has had a bullseye on its back when it comes to Internet privacy, on Thursday launched a Web site that shows people what data Gmail, Google Calendar and more than a dozen other Google products store about them. John Simpson of consumer-advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog said the dashboard focuses on data that people have consciously shared with Google while they are logged into various Google accounts, but ignores all the data that Google collects and ties to a user’s computer address and through other software, known as cookies. “The dashboard is really the appearance of control without giving users the ability to see how Google tracks them all over the place,” he said.
Continue reading...Thursday, November 5, 2009
Group Calls for 'Make-Me-Anonymous' Button On Home Page SANTA MONICA, CA -- The new Google Dashboard touted by the Internet giant as offering users “transparency, choice and control” of user data stored by the company doesn’t give consumers adequate control over protecting their information from Google’s marketing machine, Consumer Watchdog said today. Consumer Watchdog applauded the company for giving consumers a single place to go to manage data, but said Google needed to give consumers the ability to stop being tracked by the company and to delete information associated with their computer’s IP address from the Google servers.
Continue reading...Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Google Inc. will announce a feature tomorrow that will give users more control over their online privacy, according to a consumer advocate who discussed the matter with the company. John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog hasn't reviewed Google Dashboard yet, because he refused to sign a nondisclosure agreement. But attorneys for the Mountain View search giant informed him the new feature would be unveiled on Thursday, he told The Chronicle.
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
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