WASHINGTON, DC – As average Americans focus today on their income tax bill, Consumer Watchdog called on President Obama and the chairmen of the House and Senate tax committees to block calls for a tax holiday that would unfairly benefit corporate giants like Google.
Continue reading...Thursday, April 14, 2011
In an internal memo first obtained by the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, the city in December said Google and its partner Computer Sciences Corp. repeatedly committed to and then missed deadlines to solve data security issues that were preventing the Los Angeles Police Department from moving onto Google's system.
Continue reading...Thursday, April 14, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC — Consumer Watchdog today asked the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee to investigate Google’s misrepresentations about its “cloud computing” services as the Internet giant has tried to sell them to the federal government, as well as state and municipal governments.
Continue reading...Thursday, April 14, 2011
"We strongly believe that any privacy bill should direct the Federal Trade Commission to require and enforce a "Do Not Track Me" mechanism. Consumers should have the right to use the Internet and mobile devices with confidence that their privacy choices are respected, and with anonymity if they choose," John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog president, wrote in a letter to Senators McCain and Kerry.
Continue reading...Wednesday, April 13, 2011
While consumer advocacy organizations like the Consumer’s Union and the Consumer Federation of American supported the proposal, a separate contingent of consumer privacy advocates — including Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy — applauded the bipartisan effort, but said more could be done.
Continue reading...Wednesday, April 13, 2011
"We strongly believe that any privacy bill should direct the Federal Trade Commission to require and enforce a "Do Not Track Me" mechanism. Consumers should have the right to use the Internet and mobile devices with confidence that their privacy choices are respected, and with anonymity if they choose," John M. Simpson, president of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, wrote in a letter to Senators McCain and Kerry.
Continue reading...Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Consumer advocacy groups said the bill wasn’t strong enough. In a letter to Kerry and McCain, privacy advocates at the Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog said the bill still gives companies too much latitude to profile users and track their activity. They said the bill should include the FTC’s Do Not Track proposal.
Continue reading...Tuesday, April 12, 2011
It was also a disappointment to a coalition of consumer groups and privacy advocates, which welcomed the bill but called for it to be "significantly strengthened." "I don't think this is going to affect online marketing at all," said Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy privacy group. John Simpson, of Consumer Watchdog, agreed. "We cannot support it today," he said.
Continue reading...Tuesday, April 12, 2011
“Consumers need strong baseline safeguards to protect them from the sophisticated data profiling and targeting practices that are now rampant online and with mobile devices. We cannot support the bill at this time,” Consumer Watchdog, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and Privacy Times wrote McCain and Kerry on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The privacy advocates praised McCain and Kerry for raising the online privacy issue, but said the bill falls short of their expectations. The loopholes in the bill "could leave consumers feeling that they're far more protected than they are," said John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog.
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Friday, April 15, 2011
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