Anti-Google campaign on privacy
Maggie Shiels | 09:40 UK time, Friday, 3 September 2010
The public advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is no lover of Google.
It has in fact been a constant thorn in the search giant's side and has set up a special Google website to log and monitor what it sees as its misdeeds as the firm tracks and collects data on us through our search history and browsing habits.
Now Consumer Watchdog has taken it to a whole new level with giant adverts playing on the JumboTron in New York's Times Square.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt is portrayed as a "perverter of privacy" in the guise of an ice cream man. The animated video shows a caricature of Schmidt giving out free treats to children while at the same time spying on them and collecting information on them.
Consumer Watchdog's president Jaimie Court said the aim of the adverts was to "make the public aware of how out of touch Schmidt and Google are when it comes to our privacy rights. Google knows more about us than most government agencies."
"Google's motto is 'don't be evil' and the way Eric Schmidt has been talking lately proves he has not been living up to that standard."
Specifically Mr Court is referring to Mr Schmidt's recent comments about privacy and online behaviour.
"Schmidt is out of control," said Mr Court.
"When questioned about privacy, he has said, 'If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.' Recently, he suggested children could change their names when they got older if they wanted to escape what was embarrassing and public in their online lives."
As well as deriding Google and its CEO in this 540ft video screen in one of America's most populous squares, Consumer Watchdog has a serious message about online privacy in general. It wants Congress to implement a "do not track me" list that prevents Google and any other internet company from tracking users' every move online.
The list would work just like the "do not call list" which has been pretty successful at stopping those annoying marketing phone calls you get just as you are about to sit down for dinner/put the baby in the bath/read the toddler a book/or enjoy a sip of wine.
Google has taken quite a bit of heat lately over privacy. Its own admission that its Street View cars had mistakenly collected snippets of information leaking from unprotected networks in people's homes resulted in criticism from privacy advocates around the world.
Google's foray into social networking with its product Buzz also lead to unwanted headlines about a cavalier attitude towards privacy.
But as the Wall Street Journal points out, Consumer Watchdog is not above reproach. The group claimed that the Street view cars could have collected national security information from members of Congress but the Journal pointed out that it made the "allegations after sitting outside the homes of the members itself and sniffing for unsecured traffic".
Google's response to the advert is sanguine.
"We like ice cream as much as anyone, but we like privacy even more," Google said in response to the BBC.
"That's why we provide tools for users to control their privacy online, like Google Dashboard, Ads Preference Manager, Chrome incognito mode and 'off the record' Gmail chat."
The California-based internet Titan said that information about its privacy tools can be found online at google.com/privacy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/maggieshiels/2010/09/anti_google_campaign.html
The public advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is no lover of Google.
It has in fact been a constant thorn in the search giant's side and has set up a special Google website to log and monitor what it sees as its misdeeds as the firm tracks and collects data on us through our search history and browsing habits.
Now Consumer Watchdog has taken it to a whole new level with giant adverts playing on the JumboTron in New York's Times Square.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt is portrayed as a "perverter of privacy" in the guise of an ice cream man. The animated video shows a caricature of Schmidt giving out free treats to children while at the same time spying on them and collecting information on them.
Consumer Watchdog's president Jaimie Court said the aim of the adverts was to "make the public aware of how out of touch Schmidt and Google are when it comes to our privacy rights. Google knows more about us than most government agencies."
"Google's motto is 'don't be evil' and the way Eric Schmidt has been talking lately proves he has not been living up to that standard."
Specifically Mr Court is referring to Mr Schmidt's recent comments about privacy and online behaviour.
"Schmidt is out of control," said Mr Court.
"When questioned about privacy, he has said, 'If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.' Recently, he suggested children could change their names when they got older if they wanted to escape what was embarrassing and public in their online lives."
As well as deriding Google and its CEO in this 540ft video screen in one of America's most populous squares, Consumer Watchdog has a serious message about online privacy in general. It wants Congress to implement a "do not track me" list that prevents Google and any other internet company from tracking users' every move online.
The list would work just like the "do not call list" which has been pretty successful at stopping those annoying marketing phone calls you get just as you are about to sit down for dinner/put the baby in the bath/read the toddler a book/or enjoy a sip of wine.
Google has taken quite a bit of heat lately over privacy. Its own admission that its Street View cars had mistakenly collected snippets of information leaking from unprotected networks in people's homes resulted in criticism from privacy advocates around the world.
Google's foray into social networking with its product Buzz also lead to unwanted headlines about a cavalier attitude towards privacy.
But as the Wall Street Journal points out, Consumer Watchdog is not above reproach. The group claimed that the Street view cars could have collected national security information from members of Congress but the Journal pointed out that it made the "allegations after sitting outside the homes of the members itself and sniffing for unsecured traffic".
Google's response to the advert is sanguine.
"We like ice cream as much as anyone, but we like privacy even more," Google said in response to the BBC.
"That's why we provide tools for users to control their privacy online, like Google Dashboard, Ads Preference Manager, Chrome incognito mode and 'off the record' Gmail chat."
The California-based internet Titan said that information about its privacy tools can be found online at google.com/privacy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/maggieshiels/2010/09/anti_google_campaign.html
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