The Internet Industry Association has fired a shot at Comms and Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy after the Minister last week slammed the privacy-invading practices at Google and Facebook, and criticised their chief executives, Eric Schmidt and Mark Zukerberg. Despite this Conroy and the Rudd Government is set to spend thousands on Google advertising in an effort to get re elected.
The Internet Industry Association has fired a shot at Comms and Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy after the Minister last week slammed the privacy-invading practices at Google and Facebook, and criticised their chief executives, Eric Schmidt and Mark Zukerberg. Despite this Conroy and the Rudd Government is set to spend thousands on Google advertising in an effort to get re elected.
IIA chairman Bruce Linn said in a media statement that “unwarranted personal attacks do not advance the Australian Digital Economy.”
He said IIA was very disappointed that Conroy – under questioning at a Senate Estimates hearing last week – “used parliamentary privilege to launch sustained attacks against officers of leading Internet companies”.
Among other things, Conroy described Eric Schmidt’s approach to privacy concerns as “a bit creepy”. He added: “(Google) consider themselves to be above government. They consider that they are the appropriate people to make the decisions about people’s privacy data, that they are perfectly entitled to drive the streets and collect private information by photographing over fences and collecting data/information. This is probably the single greatest breach in history of privacy.”
He was also scathing about Mark Zuckerberg’s attitude to privacy, noting among other things a leaked e-mail in which Zuckerberg repeatedly referred to Facebook users as “dumbf–ks” for giving him all their private information and not expecting him to use it.
Said Linn: “The IIA would have preferred the Minister to address the range of important questions raised about the Government’s proposals for mandatory Internet filtering, proposals that will affect every Internet user and Internet service provider in Australia.*
* Conroy in fact devoted a major part of his time before the estimates committee to answering questions about the Internet filter plan .
The Rudd Government will continue to pay Google for ads promoting its policies, despite Stephen Conroy’s criticism of the Google’s privacy record. And it seems that includes Conroy’s own Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy which last year spent $185,000 with Google.
The Government is a major user of Google’s AdWords search-engine marketing product, spending $5 million to purchase sponsored links to promote its spending programs.
The expenditure covers the purchase of thousands of Internet search terms directing people to government Web ads or sites when they do an online search.
At a Senate estimates hearing last week Victorian Liberal Senator Michael Ronaldson asked if the Government would withdraw advertising from Google in light of Conroy’s comments. The answer, it seems, is no.
Biggest spenders, according to Ronaldson were Resources, Energy and Tourism ($1.6 million), Treasury ($750,000) – and spy agency ASIO ($906,000 – mostly in recruitment ads).