The big tech companies know Congress wants to stop the use of consumer personal information without notifying their users. It seems Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook like to bundle user information and sell it to companies that want to sell users a product or service they didn’t ask for or want. Google was the first company to feel the impact of Europe’s new General Data Protection Law which went into effect in May 2018.
The French data protection authority hit Google with a $57 million fine for not letting users know how the company collects their data from Google Maps, YouTube, and its search engine. Google inserts personalized ads on those platforms, and most users have no idea how those ads got their personal information. The Google fine is the fourth fine levied against the big tech companies. Facebook is still under investigation for allegedly breaking the data protection law in Europe.
United States lawmakers have a close eye on what’s happening in Europe in terms of data protection cases. Internet users in the United States want the same kind of law. But Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook spent $64.2 million lobbying lawmakers so they go easy on them when a data protection law like the one in Europe comes up for a vote. The big four spent 10 percent more on lobbying in 2018 than they did in 2017.
Google topped the lobbying list by spending $21.2 million in 2018. That’s a 17 percent increase over their 2017 lobbying budget. Facebook spent $12.6 million, Amazon kicked in $14.2 million, and Microsoft gave lobbyists $9.5 million in 2018. Apple also joined the lobbying movement by spending $6.6 million. The Big five tech companies want to influence the Washington debate on several policy issues like antitrust, privacy, and election security.
Members on both sides on the Congressional aisle want to pass tough privacy laws, and they say 2019 will be the year that happens. But the big tech companies could change privacy law voting thanks to their deep pockets and the support they have on Capitol Hill.
The giants in the tech industry want to create their own federal legislation in order to stop a tough new California state law. The governor signed a bill that gives consumers the right to know what information tech companies collect, what they do with that information, and who they share it with. That California law will begin in 2020. Their lobbying efforts may stop the California law from becoming the law Congress adopts for the rest of the states.
