California Senate Bill 1298 is now up for grabs in the State House after unanimous passage in the state Senate. The bill permits "autonomous vehicles" on California roadways. In a protest letter to the California House Speaker, the group Consumer Watchdog seeks to kill portions of the bill. The group leaders write that the company lost its trustworthiness with the so-called "Wi-Spy scandal, the largest wiretapping effort ever, in which Google's Street View cars sucked up emails, passwords and other data from private Wi-Fi networks in 30 countries around the world." Click here to read a report from the group.
Continue reading...Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Group Seeks Amendments to California Legislation SANTA MONICA, CA –Google’s driverless cars should not be allowed on U.S. highways unless adequate privacy protections for users of the new technology are implemented, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Continue reading...Friday, May 25, 2012
Stonewalling is Google's M.O. when it comes to regulatory requests, John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's privacy project director, told the E-Commerce Times. "Google did it with the FCC over its inquiry into the StreetView project," he said. "The FCC fined Google (US)$25,000 because it dragged its feet in responding."
Continue reading...Thursday, May 24, 2012
Consumer Watchdog has long held the view that Google’s executives are hypocrites, claiming their mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, while remaining deeply secretive about the company’s activities. It wasn’t a popular view of the Internet giant. I think many people used to see Google as a […]
Continue reading...Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wants Release of Underlying Documents in Commission’s Investigation SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today countered Google’s objections to the Federal Communications Commission’s release of detailed documents about the Commission’s investigation
Continue reading...Monday, May 7, 2012
John M. Simpson, the director at the Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project, expressed support for the FTC taking strong action against Google.
Continue reading...Friday, May 4, 2012
Consumer Watchdog Complained To Commission After Hack Was Discovered SANTA MONICA, CA – The Federal Trade Commission appears ready to fine Google millions of dollars for hacking around privacy settings on iPhones and iPads. Consumer Watchdog filed a complaint in February with the FTC after Stanford Researcher Jonathan Mayer revealed what the Internet giant was doing.
Continue reading...Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Now Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit advocacy group in California, has filed a Freedom of Information Act Request with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking all documents related to the Commission’s investigation of the Google "Wi-Spy" scandal. The FCC recently fined Google $25,000 for willfully obstructing the FCC’s investigation into how Google’s Street View cars gathered “payload data” from private Wi-Fi networks.
Continue reading...Wednesday, May 2, 2012
A consumer advocacy group wants all the documents connected with the FCC's investigation, while some European regulators may give the Google program a new look.
Continue reading...Wednesday, May 2, 2012
An official with Consumer Watchdog, which has been a frequent and sharp critic of Google, said despite the speculation, the organization does not receive funding from the search engine's competitors — Microsoft, Yahoo or Facebook. "I don't know why they would have speculated about that," said John M. Simpson, privacy director for Consumer Watchdog. "They could have just called and asked."
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012
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