Tag Archive | "Privacy"
Experts Positive on Facebook’s New Privacy Controls
Privacy advocates and security experts have given Facebook a preliminary thumbs-up on the upcoming changes designed to improve privacy controls on its site.
Continue reading...FTC ‘carefully monitoring’ online tracking
Friday, August 19, 2011
I just received an encouraging letter from the Federal Trade Commission assuring me that its Division of Privacy and Identity Protection is “carefully monitoring the privacy issues associated with online tracking.” The letter, from Maneesha Mithal, the division’s Associate Director, was in response to our recent complaint about companies who said they would not track […]
Continue reading...Does Google-Motorola Pose Anti-Competitive Danger?
Monday, August 15, 2011
What if Google, the master of the cloud computing universe and the Internet's information monopolist, were to buy Intel, Apple, or IBM? Would we want the company that controls information outside of our computers all along the Internet to also have control over a principal computer hardware maker and its patents?
Continue reading...We need a right to be forgotten
Friday, August 12, 2011
I remember as a young newspaper reporter going to different jurisdictions where public records were kept and putting together background information on an individual. I had to have a compelling reason to do it, because although the records were public, it took considerable effort to gather the information. With the Internet and the advent of […]
Continue reading...Is Google adding a default security setting?
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
One of the dangers of using public Wi-Fi networks at coffee shops and the like is that anybody else on the network can read your email, Facebook postings, search requests and easily hack into your account unless the data is encrypted. The most common is SSL encryption using the HTTPS protocol. If you use it, […]
Continue reading...Web Tracking Has Become A Privacy Time Bomb
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Google has been widely known to scan the contents of Gmail messages to deliver targeted text ads. While some don't mind, others believe scanning e-mail to deliver more relevant ads is an invasion of privacy. John Simpson, spokesman for the non-profit advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, isn't convinced the search giant will necessarily stop there. "Part of the problem is that Google collects and stores tremendous amounts of data about its users," Simpson says. "The only assurance we have about what Google's intentions are boils down to 'Trust us.'"
Continue reading...Stanford Study Shows Opting Out Of Web Tracking Not So Easy
Friday, July 22, 2011
The study has prompted a privacy group, Consumer Watchdog, to ask the FTC to investigate whether eight online advertising companies engaged in deceptive trade practices by saying they would delete "tracking cookies" but actually left them in place.
Continue reading...Google And Facebook Spent Record Amounts On Lobbying In Q2 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
It’s no secret that former CEO and current Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has been spending more time in the Beltway, helping with government relations. In fact, Schmidt is actually going to testify before the Senate on possible Google antitrust issues. Because of his increased presence in D.C., public interest organization Consumer Watchdog is actually calling for Schmidt’s activities in Washington D.C. to be scrutinized to see if he needs to register formally as a lobbyist.
Continue reading...Google and Facebook Lobbying Expenditures Soar to Records; Consumer Watchdog Asks If Eric Schmidt Should Register As A Lobbyist
Thursday, July 21, 2011
SANTA MONICA, CA -- Google and Facebook pumped record amounts into their lobbying efforts during the second quarter, according to just filed disclosure reports. Google's spending soared to $2.06 million, a 54 percent increase from the same period a year ago. Facebook spent $320,000 -- nearly as much as its total lobbying expenses for all of last year.
Continue reading...Google and Facebook Splurge on Lobbying in Q2
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Some of the issues Google focused on include competition in online advertising, online privacy and security, free trade, censorship, the H.R. 399 bill and trademark issues. Google’s presence in the U.S. government is spurring some policy watchers, like Consumer Watchdog to call for Eric Schmidt to register as a lobbyist. “Schmidt could well have reached the threshold requiring registration as a lobbyist; he is clearly trying to influence policy,” said John M. Simpson, Director of the nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest group’s Privacy Project. “It certainly should be checked out.”
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011
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