Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are pressing Apple and Google-parent Alphabet Inc. to detail what consumer information the technology giants obtain through their mobile phones and how the data is used.
The fresh round of questions in letters to the firms’ chief executive officers show that Republican leaders are interested in taking a sweeping look at the ways in which the cellphone industry collects and utilizes consumer data. The White House has recently taken preliminary steps toward action on data privacy also.
The inquiry to Apple is particularly noteworthy, given that the company has long championed itself as a privacy advocate. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has repeatedly said Apple believes privacy is a human right, a claim the lawmakers seized on.
“Recent reports have indicated that consumer data gathered through cell phones … may be used in ways that consumers do not expect,” Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon and subcommittee chairs Gregg Harper of Mississippi, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Robert Latta of Ohio wrote in a letter to Cook. “User have consistently had access to apps through the App Store that you have highlighted as contradictory to Apple’s values, including Google and Facebook apps.”
The lawmakers questioned Cook on whether Apple’s iPhone stores location information in the absence of a wireless Internet connection and if the devices collect audio without a clear notification that a recording is being made.
Four major telecommunications firms announced earlier this year they would end partnerships with some location-sharing companies after pressure from Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the chamber’s finance panel.
In a similar letter to Alphabet CEO Larry Page, the Republican quartet questioned the company on a recent report that Google permitted third parties to access users’ emails in an effort to personalize content offerings.
“These practices raise questions about how representations made by a platform are carried out in practice,” the members wrote.
As with Apple, Walden and others asked Alphabet for information on its location- and audio-collection practices, as well as how third-party applications adhere to Google’s terms.
