In the last few years, online privacy and cybersecurity have become a public concern, with tech giants like Facebook, Google and Apple backing a national law…
In the last few years, online privacy and cybersecurity have become a public concern, with tech giants like Facebook, Google and Apple backing a national law on data privacy regulations. But lawmakers at an antitrust hearing on Wednesday accused the tech companies of being disingenuous with their support for privacy — arguing that they’ve used it as an excuse to snub out their competition.
The CEOs of tech giants Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google faced a five-hour series of questions from the House Judiciary’s subcommittee on antitrust, specifically on whether or not they engaged in anti-competitive behavior.
Members of Congress gave several examples of times tech giants took actions that would directly benefit themselves while harming their competitors, like Google announcing it would phase out third-party tracking cookies by 2022 or Apple removing parental control apps shortly after it launched its own “screen time” feature.
In both of those cases, the companies said the actions were taken to protect the privacy and security of their users, but House members argue that it was specifically to boost their own profits.
“You’re using privacy as a shield, and what you’re really doing is using it as a cudgel to beat down competition,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong, a Republican from North Dakota.
