Watchdog wants probe of Google's 'unusually close' ties to Obama

The Hill ^ | 11/09/10 | Sara Jerome -

[george76]

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a group that advocates for a smaller and more ethical government, wrote to leaders of the House Oversight Committee this month urging them to investigate a major privacy breach by Google. It wants to know if the company's ties to the administration helped it dodge penalties after the incident.

The group also urges a look at Google's ties to the administration more generally, pointing to what it calls "a growing body of evidence" that shows the administration's "unusually close relationship with Google has resulted in favoritism towards the company on federal policy issues."

After Google admitted last month that it collected and stored private user information, including passwords and entire e-mails, from Wi-Fi networks, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) closed an inquiry into the issue, citing promises from the company that it would improve its privacy practices.

But NLPC alleges that Google's political clout might be the real reason the FTC dropped the probe.

[mrmeyer]

Google? Hell, what about Soros?

[george76]

then Obama went to the home of Google executive Marissa Mayer for a $30,000-per-person Democratic Party fundraiser

[kingu]

Seriously? You broadcast in the open this stuff, and people have their underwear in a bundle because someone received it? This is like claiming a conversation held via screaming is somehow private. If you don't want your data to be received by everyone, ENCRYPT IT. Most routers and computers today only require pushing a single button to get this done.

Not rocket science, and to imagine this needs some kind of deep congressional investigation? Utter stupidity.

[PMAS]

just another reason I don’t use Google