Jonathan Mayer, a grad student and privacy researcher, had a blog post, wherein he mentioned the fact. This article was the center of attraction, as the Wall Street Journal featured it in a news story published Friday morning.
This had its effects as Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., has asked Google representatives to reappear before Congress to explain how it tracks the online activities of iPhone and iPad users. It was noted that the moderation of the close door briefing, which was held two weeks ago, will see an extension. The earlier brief saw two Google executives answering questions about a major privacy policy change the search giant is about to make.
Bono Mack said, “Google has some tough new questions to answer in the wake of this latest privacy flap, and that’s why I am asking them to come in for another briefing.” He continued, “These types of incidents continue to create consumer concerns about how their personal information is used and shared.”
There was an immediate response from Rachel Whetstone, Google’s senior vice president of communications and public policy on the matter. She suggested that the Journal “mischaracterizes what happened and why.”
Whetstone even said that the Safari browser “contained functionality that then enabled other Google advertising cookies to be set on the browser.” According to her, the Google’s engineers “didn’t anticipate that this would happen.” She said that Google has started removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers.
However, as expected, Google has moved into the Federal Trade Commission scanner once again. This time, Representatives Ed Markey, D-Mass., Joe Barton, R-Tex., and Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., fired off a letter to the FTC, asking the agency to investigate whether Google’s Safari tracking violates a standing consent order that restricts Google from misrepresenting its privacy policies.
The letter states, “Google’s practices could have a wide sweeping impact because Safari is a major web browser used by millions of Americans.” Further, it notes, “We are interested in any actions the FTC has taken or plans to take to investigate whether Google has violated the terms of its consent agreement.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, had his say in the matter too. Rockefeller said, “According to press reports, Google circumvented consumer choice and may have paved the way for third-party ad networks—including Google’s own DoubleClick—to track consumers against their will.” He continued, “If so, this practice may have violated the company’s own stated privacy practices. I fully intend to look into this matter and determine the extent to which this practice was used by Google and other third parties to circumvent consumer choice.”