Group threatens to block Google FTC payout over liability
updated 03:09 pm EDT, Thu August 9, 2012
Notes dissenting voice at FTC ruling
A non-profit activist group, Consumer Watchdog, says it is planning to block Google's $22.5 million settlement with the FTC for violating the privacy of Safari users, according to a press release. The organization notes that the settlement must still be approved by a federal judge, and says it's upset that the ruling may not require Google to admit wrongdoing. The FTC has accused Google of knowingly circumventing Safari safeguards to generate advertising cookies, despite promises to the contrary.
Consumer Watchdog filed a complaint with the FTC in February after the security issue was exposed by a Stanford researcher. Regarding its opposition to settlement plans, though, the group focuses on the lone dissenting voice in the FTC ruling, Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch, who argued that allowing Google to avoid admitting liability "in circumstances such as these is unprecedented." Rosch was opposed by four other Commissioners.
