Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA — Google spent $5.03 million on lobbying in the second quarter of 2014, matching a company record and well ahead of spending by 14 other technology and communications companies, according to records just filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and analyzed today by Consumer Watchdog.
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”What Microsoft is doing is no different from what Google did,” said John M. Simpson, who monitors privacy policy for Consumer Watchdog, a California nonprofit group. ”It allows the combination of data across services in ways a user wouldn’t reasonably expect. Microsoft wants to be able to compile massive digital dossiers about users of its services and monetize them.”
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Google never admitted it violated any FTC regulations, although it did agree to pay the fine. The group ConsumerWatchdog.org criticized the settlement because it felt the fine wasn’t large enough, and because Google never had to admit it did anything wrong. John Simpson, director of the privacy project at ConsumerWatchdog.org said, “This is letting Google buy its way out of trouble.”
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An official with Consumer Watchdog, which has been a frequent and sharp critic of Google, said despite the speculation, the organization does not receive funding from the search engine’s competitors — Microsoft, Yahoo or Facebook. “I don’t know why they would have speculated about that,” said John M. Simpson, privacy director for Consumer Watchdog. “They could have just called and asked.”
