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Consumer Watchdog has launched a 540-square-foot animated advertisement that mocks Google's privacy practices by depicting Google chief executive Eric Schmidt using an ice cream truck to steal secret information from children.

Consumer Watchdog, a consumer group, has long been critical of Google and some of the comments that Eric Schmidt, the company’s chief executive, has made about privacy online. On Thursday the group took its objections to a new level with a 540 foot square video advertisement in New York’s Times Square that shows Mr. Schmidt as an unctuous ice cream truck driver who knows everything about everyone and happily offers free ice cream in exchange to full body scans. (The video is available on YouTube, which is owned by Google.)

Consumer Watchdog has launched a rather unique effort in its bid to highlight its concerns over Google's privacy policies and to push Congress to allow consumers to opt out of having their Web activities tracked by online firms.

Physicians Must Disclose If They Own CT, MRI or PET Scanners

Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a national consumer advocacy group based in Santa Monica, Calif., said the new disclosure requirement may eventually lead patients to think hard about the financial relationship their doctor has. But in the short term, he said, the law will have little impact. "People will still defer to the white coat."

The $1-million grants, which went to all but five states, will help many expand public access to information about rate hikes and hire experts to review proposed charges.

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration specifically ruled out seeking prior approval authority. Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica-based advocacy group, urged the administration to reject California's grant application, saying the grant would "prevent, not develop, any effective state regulation of health insurance rates." California nonetheless received its grant, which is to be used to streamline collection of data on proposed rate hikes.

OLDWICK, N.J. -- Certain life insurance agents and broker-dealer firms could face increased legal liability depending on how the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission rules on the fiduciary standard pertaining to the sale of investment products. The concern among affected parties is the possible increased legal liability or financial penalties from the SEC if they don't meet the new standard, said Carmen Balber, director of the Washington, D.C. office of Consumer Watchdog.

As part of ObamaCare, the federal government will impose strict new spending rules on health insurers. How it does so could have a sweeping impact on the industry and patient care. "We believe that insurance companies will get enough goodies out of the new "medical loss ratio" (MLR) law that they will not have to do business any differently," said Consumer Watchdog's Judy Dugan. "If a nursing line is something where a nurse can advise a patient on treatment, sure, that may be a medical expense. But if it is just to determine if a patient needs to see a doctor, that's just cost containment."

The nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog is seeking to determine the extent of the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration's use of Google Earth in its investigations, spokesman John M. Simpson said last week. Federal contracting records reviewed by Consumer Watchdog show that the FBI has spent more than $600,000 on Google Earth since 2007. The Drug Enforcement Administration, meanwhile, has spent more than $67,000. Simpson has called on Congress to investigate how U.S. law enforcement and intelligence communities are using Google technologies. The group says it has concerns that data could be used for racial profiling.

Insurers and employers say a generous waiver process is needed to avoid a sudden jump in premiums. But patient advocates, such as California-based Consumer Watchdog, warn against being too lenient. All sides are pressing their cases with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is writing the rules on the waiver process but has not specified what they will say or when they'll be in place. It's not clear yet whether waivers could continue after 2014. HHS said details on the process are under development, and declined to elaborate.

Consumer advocates urged the Obama administration Thursday to investigate what they called an effort by large for-profit insurance companies to slash spending on medical care even as they raise premiums. In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Media and Democracy said that insurers reported less medical spending in recent months ahead of new federal rules that will require the companies to do just the opposite starting next year.

WASHINGTON, DC -- As Americans struggle with double-digit hikes in their health insurance bills, millions are coming up against a hard reality: The state regulators who are supposed to protect them can often do little to control what insurers are charging. Consumer advocates and administration officials are trying to spark new state efforts because the new healthcare law gives the federal government only limited power to regulate premiums, traditionally a state responsibility. The Obama administration plans to announce a series of $1-million grants next week to help states increase their oversight.

A Santa Monica-based consumer watchdog group this week decried a proposal by Google and Verizon Communications that it says would put an end to net neutrality and create a system of pay-to-play haves and have-nots when it comes to internet access.

Within a few years, 6 million uninsured California residents will finally get medical coverage as part of the newly passed federal health care reforms. But what will they pay? And who will regulate premiums as insurers angle for customers? Right now, Sacramento has little control over health care rates, largely because industry lobbyists have killed efforts to change a rules-free marketplace. According to the organization Consumer Watchdog, health insurance interests have given $800,218 over the last three years to members of the state Senate, where showdown votes on insurance controls are due this month.

Verizon Communications Inc. and Google Inc. urged U.S. regulators to leave wireless Internet services outside most policies that are designed to prevent carriers from making some websites perform better than others.  Consumer Watchdog, a consumer group based in Santa Monica, said the proposal "completely undermines the future of the Internet" because the wireless use of the Web is gaining in popularity.

Proposal Would Let Internet Providers Favor Some Services

Smaller Internet companies wouldn't be able to keep pace. "Ultimately, consumers would pay the costs for the premium delivery, or worse, would never see the content of smaller companies," says John Simpson, director of advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. "Google claims it won't use premium channels for delivery, but not long ago they professed to defend true net neutrality."

California's new rules let applicants say they're not sure or they can't remember the answer to a health history question. Federal health reform allows insurers to cancel a policy only if there was intent to deceive. Jamie Court directs the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog. "Having the double whammy of both the new federal rules and the state insurance commissioner's regulations, makes it very clear to insurance companies what they can and cannot do," said Court.

Google Inc. and Verizon Inc. in a joint conference call Monday spoke out against blocking, prioritizing or slowing down wired Internet traffic. Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog, however, said that while the new broadband proposal "pays lip service to the idea of net neutrality," it would actually "completely undermine the open and free Internet we enjoy." John M. Simpson, consumer advocate with the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group, said there are two main problems with the proposal.

The California-based nonprofit Consumer Watchdog made that point in a letter sent Tuesday to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urging her to reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) application for a rate review grant. The letter criticizes the governor’s application because California would use the money to hire actuaries to review rate filings without giving them the authority to reject rate requests. “I think the intent of the grants was specifically to enhance states’ ability to thoroughly evaluate and, where it can, to approve or disapprove rates,” said Carmen Balber, the group’s Washington director.

 

SAN FRANCISCO — Online freedom advocates fear that Google is changing allegiance in the battle to stop Internet service providers from giving preferential treatment to those that pay. Nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog portrayed any compromise by Google on net neutrality as a betrayal. "Apparently Google redefines principles to suit the business need of the moment," said John Simpson, a consumer advocate with the group. "What Google and Verizon are trying to do is carve up the Internet behind closed doors for their own benefit."

Carmen Balber, director of the Washington office for Consumer Watchdog, an insurance industry critic that has been keeping close tabs on the law's implementation, said that increased public scrutiny has served to pull back some insurance companies. But, she said, that isn't enough. "There's only so much that shaming the industry will do," she said. What really needs to happen, she said, is for state regulators to get the resources and political power to investigate and crack down on unjustified rate hikes. "That's why the state grant program is so important," she said.