In a letter to Bernard Parks, chairman of the Los Angeles City Council's Budget and Finance Committee, Consumer Watchdog claimed that Google was being hypocritical in marketing Google Apps to the city.

The letter, by Consumer Watchdog advocate John Simpson, faulted for "blandly assuring" customers about the security of its cloud-based services while at the same time warning of multiple security risks in federally required 10-Q financial statements.

"Google says one thing when trying to sell its products, but something else in federally required filings aimed at shareholders," Simpson said in the letter.

A Google spokesman said in e-mail that Consumer Watchdog was more interested in "generating headlines and taking sides in a contract bidding process than in taking a fair and reasonable look at cloud computing."

In a "fact check" note Google has been circulating to L.A. council officials, the company also downplayed Consumer Watchdog's claims and said the group was being paid to target Google specifically.