Yesterday Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified before Congress for the first time, after previously opting out in September, when Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg appeared before lawmakers. Pichai also submitted his written testimony, which gave initial responses to several expected lines of questioning.
Questions by lawmakers at Tuesday’s hearing — titled “Transparency & Accountability: Examining Google and Its Data Collection, Use, and Filtering Practice” — traced a familiar groove, with Republicans primarily focused on claims that Google search results have anti-conservative bias.
However, bipartisan reps also invoked topics including data privacy, Google’s rumored launch of a censored search engine in China, and potential regulation.
- Claims of political bias in search. Past tech hearings have seen Republican lawmakers make repeated claims that platforms are suppressing conservative viewpoints, though there’s no proof that this is the case. Pichai argued that search results are a product of algorithms, which Google strives to make neutral, as well as user feedback (clicks, shares, etc.), and that no single employee can manually manipulate search results.
- Data privacy and minimization. Reps also questioned Pichai on how transparent the company is regarding user data gathering practices, particularly related to location tracking. Pichai said that the company aims to simplify the process for “average users” who want to control their data settings, and reiterated that if a user opts out of data sharing practices, then Google no longer collects their data.
- Search in China. Asked about its rumored plans to launch censored search in China, Pichai said that “right now” the company has “no plans” to launch search in the country, though admitted that an exploratory project (known as “Project Dragonfly”) had existed at the company, with over 100 Google employees involved.
- Prospective regulation in the US. Several reps used their time to bring up the prospect of regulation in the US that would reimagine the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) used his time to highlight his draft bill to adopt GDPR-like user data policies, and would prioritize “opt in” consent to share data rather than “opt out.” Pichai appeared to support an early-stage idea of an “opt in.” Asked by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) whether the US needs a national privacy law, Pichai replied, “I’m of the opinion that we’re better off with more of an overarching data-protection framework for users,” and “sees value in aligning where we can” in the development of regulation. Such a regulation would more universally or broadly apply, rather than compelling tech companies to comply with a host of competing regulations applied differently across various global territories. Already, this June, California passed a state-specific GDPR clone that will go into effect in January 2020.
- Antitrust. Relatively little attention was devoted to antitrust, though Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) pointed to fines — with the latest in July amounting to about $5 billion— levied by the European Commission for what it deemed discriminatory practices. Pichai said that Google is appealing that decision, and denied that the company engages in anti-competitive behavior to prioritize its own services, arguing simply that Google provides users with the best experience. Nevertheless, Google is globally dominant in search with 92.4%market share, per StatCounter.
