Privacy at Risk in Google, DoubleClick Merger Approval

The Center for Digital Democracy responded to the recent approval of the merger between Google and DoubleClick.  "The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sidestepped its responsibility when it approved the merger of two companies whose new, extended data-collection reach will give it unprecedented access to track our every move throughout the digital landscape. By permitting Google to combine the personal details, gleaned from our searches online and YouTube downloads, with the vast repository of information collected by DoubleClick, the FTC has sanctioned the creation of a new digital data colossus. The FTC is supposed to protect the privacy of Americans in the digital age. The excuse offered by the majority of the commission that consumer privacy can't be addressed by current antitrust law reveals a lack of leadership and determination to protect U.S. consumers. It’s clear that this merger—and the ones that follow -- will be about companies creating the twenty-first-century’s equivalent of railroad, steel, and oil monopolies in the past. Monopolistic control over consumer data is both anti-competitive and a threat to privacy." Read more 

Tags: advertising, Center for Digital Democracy, DoubleClick, FTC, Google, Internet, privacy
Topics: Business, Economics, Technology