This comes after yesterday’s issuance of a letter to Google from a group of lawmaker’s demanding clarification about consumer’s rights under the new policies.

Markey demands that the Federal Communications Commission investigate further what options users will have in regard to how their personal information can be managed:

“…All consumers should have the right to say no to sharing of their personal information, particularly when young people are involved. Google’s new privacy policy should enable consumers to opt-out if they don’t want their use of YouTube to morph into YouTrack.”

“Consumers – not corporations – should have control over their own personal information, especially for children and teens. I plan to ask the Federal Trade Commission whether Google’s planned changes to its privacy policy violate Google’s recent settlement with the agency.”

A blog post from Google Policy Manager Betsy Masiello addressed just that issue on Thursday:

“We’re not collecting more data about you. Our new policy simply makes it clear that we use data to refine and improve your experience on Google.”

So we will have to wait to see what the response will be from Google on whether user’s can opt-out of these policies or if there is control over what is done with our personal information. Google has already responded to related inquires about changes to Government and enterprise services offered at Google and if they would be affected by the new policies.

Yeah, that’s right. Google. I know they’re selling a mobile phone now, but Google isn’t a service provider. Well, we can all rest assured—a little—the FCC’s letter to Google acknowledges that T-Mobile is the service provider. However, T-Mobile received a letter of its own. So why single out Google of all the hardware providers? (Just wait.)

After all, Apple makes the iPhone, and you can buy directly from its website. Google’s webstore offers you the choice of an unlocked phone without a plan or a (cheaper) phone with a T-Mobile plan (Verizon and Vodaphone are still slated for spring). Apple’s iPhone store doesn’t offer any choice but to buy the phone with an AT&T data plan (that I can see, without giving my info).

But there’s something that Google does that Apple doesn’t. The unlocked Nexus One is $529, but when you buy it with a T-Mobile plan, the price drops to $179. However, if you cancel your contract in the first 120 days of service, the Terms of Sale state that in addition to T-Mobile’s early termination fee, you’ll also be subject to an “equipment recovery fee”—the $350 subsidy on the phone price.

To my knowledge, when you buy a discounted phone from other mobile carriers, they don’t charge that subsidy on top of their ETF. In fact, that was part of Verizon’s initial justification of its high early termination fee to the FCC. (A justification the FCC found “unsatisfying, and in some cases, troubling.”)

The FCC’s look at Google may be prompted by consumer complaints (they aren’t saying), but it still shows an impressive level of sophistication in the modern marketplace. (Let’s face it—after looking at the way federal commissions handle the Internet, it doesn’t take much to impress me.)

Google, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T have until February 23 to respond.

What do you think? Will the FCC knock down early termination fees—and if they do, will phone subsidies from mobile carriers be a thing of the past?

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Over at the at the Seattle Times, the existence of a ‘Mad-Libs’ style ‘Yahoo Resignation Letter’ Generator‘ has surfaced. This really funny piece of Yahoo! parody creates a form letter with drop-down menus that provide you with a choice of three phases. (2 formal phrases & 1 really cool phrase). For example, the letter can begin "Dear Mr. Yang," "Ms. Decker," "Mr. Filo" or "whomever is running things today (sorry the org chart Wiki is changing too fast for me to keep up.)"

It continues, "It is with great (sadness, glee, self-interest) that I ask you to accept this letter as my official resignation from Yahoo!" However, as the letter continues, the phrases start turning a bit ‘out of the box’, but still maintain the humor in them.

But be careful before you hit the submit button, as it would in fact create a draft of the intended e-mail for the intended recipients. So enjoy the new sleek and compact ‘Yahoo Resignation Letter Generator’.

A word of caution! Do not complete it and send it to your boss. ‘Troubles all the Way!’

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