Tag Archive | "lack of transparency"
Google’s 5 principles pay lip service to privacy
Google decided to take note of International Data Privacy Day last week by publishing their five guiding privacy principles. Here are the bullet points and there is ...
Continue reading...Can Google Be Trusted? No: The Search Engine Must Do More To Protect Private Data
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Few doubt that Internet giant Google is succeeding in its audacious corporate mission "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." The problem is that the mission puts Google directly at odds with our privacy rights, and Google appears unwilling to give consumers enough control.
Continue reading...Comparing Democratic, GOP fundraisers
Friday, November 13, 2009
Both the Democratic and Republican Senate campaign committees are holding big fundraisers -- the Democrats today at Google headquarters and the Republicans on Monday and Tuesday at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, DC. Consumer Watchdog objected to the Democratic event.
Continue reading...What Google Dashboard Knows About You
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Dashboard lets you get rid of some information on there. Google says part of the goal here is to stop the theory about what Google knows and doesn't know about you, to provide transparency. But there are some privacy advocates who say this is still this is not enough. For example, one group called Consumer Watchdog put out this statement saying, "If Google really wanted to give users control of their privacy, it would give consumers the ability to be anonymous from the company and advertisers in crucial areas like search data and online behavior." And you can see the statement right there.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Calls On Senators To Skip Fundraiser Set For Google Headquarters
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Public Policy Should Be Decided In Hearing Room With Sunlight And Transparency, Group Says SANTA MONICA, CA -- Warning that a Democratic Senate Campaign Committee Fundraiser scheduled to be held at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, CA, on Friday created an appearance of a conflict of interest, Consumer Watchdog called on the seven Senators scheduled to appear not to attend.
Continue reading...Now’s Your Chance To Spy On Google
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Google Dashboard tool is also limited to information gathered on users when logged in to Google. It doesn’t give consumers access to information that might be tied to individual consumers in other ways -- such as searches associated with individual computer IP address or cookies. That means it falls short of being a true privacy tool, according to privacy rights advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. "The dashboard gives the appearance of control without the actual ability to prevent Google from tracking you and delivering you to its marketers,” said John M. Simpson, a spokesman for the nonprofit organization. "It doesn't reveal anything about what is at the heart of what I call Google's 'black box' -- what is associated with your computer's IP address."
Continue reading...Google Dashboard Provides Too Much Info And Yet Not Enough
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Indeed, privacy advocates, such as John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, argued Google's gesture with Dashboard was just a straw man and that if the company really wanted to help it would allow users to prevent search information from being logged or to prevent Google from tracking a user's online activity while surfing the Web.
Continue reading...Poking At Google’s New Privacy Dashboard
Friday, November 6, 2009
... Dashboard doesn't really give users any clearer insights into what the company is doing with all of the data it collects. John Simpson, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, said if Google really wants people to use Dashboard, the company should make it easier to find, noting that there are few links to the tool from the landing pages of any Google properties. Simpson said Google also should make it easier for users to blow away stored search and activity data across multiple Google properties with a single click. "Google is maximizing the PR value of this feature in response to critics who have demanded online privacy guarantees," Simpson said in a written statement. "They are letting a little light shine into the black box that is Google, but to claim that this is transparency is absurd."
Continue reading...Google Releases Dashboard Privacy Tool
Thursday, November 5, 2009
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...Dashboard Shows What Google Knows About You
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.
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010
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