Even without the official announcement of Google TV, the giant search engine is getting more than its fair share of scrutiny.
The aptly named Consumer Watchdog has launched a new website, Inside Google, to "focus attention on the company's activities and hold Google accountable for its actions." In a news release, the organization pointed to Google's contradictory behavior as a reason for establishing the site.
"Google advocates openness and transparency for everyone else, but when it comes to their own activities the company is extremely secretive," said a statement attributed to John Simpson, consumer advocate. "Inside Google will focus needed public attention on Google's activities."
And across the ocean in Germany, prosecutors in Hamburg opened a criminal investigation of Google over how it collects private Internet data from unsecured WiFi networks in Deutschland. Google said it "inadvertently" collected 600 gigabytes of data from unsecured WiFi networks around the world to assembly its Street View archive. German data protection officials want Google to turn over one of the hard drives used in the data-gathering effort-which Google so far has refused to do.
For more:
- see this news release
- and this story
Related articles:
Google's Android surpasses 50,000 applications
FTC extends Google/AdMob probe to look into iAd