Tag Archive | "litigation"
Stanford Study Finds Google Violated Privacy Choices, iPhone and iPads Targeted
Consumer Watchdog Says Internet Giant Lied To Users, Calls For FTC Action SANTA MONICA, CA – In the wake of a Stanford University researcher’s study that found Google has been violating people’s online privacy choices, Consumer Watchdog said today the Internet giant was lying to users and called for the Federal Trade Commission to act. iPhone and iPad users were targeted.
Continue reading...One Privacy Policy To Rule Them All: What Google’s Controversial New Terms of Service Could Mean To You
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson points out that personalized advertisements targeted directly to a specific user, based on user-collected information, can be “a substantial amount” more lucrative than just an anonymous ad. And with all the information Google can collect about your interests from your searches, your Google Docs, and your favorite YouTube videos, they can figure out pretty specifically what ads they should show you. “They are positioning this as streamlining privacy,” Simpson says. “But that’s just PR. It’s all about better targeting for advertisers.”
Continue reading...Facebook Critics Hope IPO Forces Some Hard Questions
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
"It's hard to predict exactly what sort of gaffe they’ll do next, but it would not surprise me if there is yet another one," said John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project, noting some concerns over Facebook’s recent expansion of its Timeline feature, which makes it easier to visualize, share, and view users’ profile history.
Continue reading...Q4 2011 Lobbying Report Shows Google Spending Skyrocketed
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Consumer Watchdog condemned the increased lobbying by web services. Google "has abandoned its idealistic 'Don't Be Evil' roots and has bought into Washington's corrupt 'cash and carry' political system," the consumer group said. "Facebook, relatively new to the Washington lobbying scene, now appears headed down the same morally bankrupt path as Google," Consumer Watchdog said. Facebook declined to respond. Google didn't answer a request for comment.
Continue reading...Feds Shut Down Mortgage Scammers Who Used Google Ads
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
One Google critic, the public advocacy firm, Consumer Watchdog, wants Google held accountable. It put out a report in February blasting Google for taking these fraudulent ads. They suggest that Google be fined in order to help compensate the victims of these scams.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Calls On Google To Donate Tainted Revenue From Deceptive Online Ads It Published As Feds Shut Down 85 Mortgage Modification Scammers
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today called on Google to donate the tainted revenue it received from deceptive ads preying on vulnerable homeowners to non-profit groups that help consumers with credit problems, including homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure. The mortgage modification scams were first revealed in a Consumer Watchdog report last February.
Continue reading...Is Google following Microsoft’s evil path?
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Has Google taken a page from Microsoft's evil history and started using the same anticompetitive tactics that landed the Redmond, WA., software company in antitrust trouble in the U.S. and Europe? A exclusive report in The New York Post says that's exactly what the Federal Trade Commission is considering in its major antitrust investigation of the Internet giant.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Calls Google’s Explanation For Its Record $5.9 Million Lobbying Spending ‘Disingenuous Bafflegab’
Friday, October 21, 2011
“The fact is the company is facing a well-deserved antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and wants to escape any consequences for its anti-competitive behavior,” said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project. “They’ve got billions in profits stashed in off-shore tax havens and are pressing for a tax-holiday to bring it into the United States.”
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Urges Senator Kohl To Recall Google’s Schmidt As Witness After Executive Calls Government Slow And Stupid In Interview
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Washington, DC – Consumer Watchdog today took Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt to task today over remarks made to The Washington Post in which he claimed Google should not be the subject of antitrust review because its services are "free" and made derogatory remarks about government officials being slow, backward and greedy.
Continue reading...Mimes Aren’t Silent in Capital Hill Attack on Google
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Consumer Watchdog says that privacy and Google's ability to pry into the lives of anyone is a growing concern among the public. Colleague Jay Greene wrote that this week the group's primary concern is that Google is gathering a huge trove of personal information, much of it without consumers' knowledge and consumers are powerless to stop it.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
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