Qualcuno è al corrente di indagini analoghe in UE? <https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/facebook-google-dona...> Few companies have more riding on proposed privacy legislation than Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. To try to steer the bill their way, the giant advertising technology companies spend millions of dollars to lobby each year, a fact confirmed by government filings. Not so well-documented is spending to support highly influential think tanks and public interest groups that are helping shape the privacy debate, ostensibly as independent observers. Bloomberg Law examined seven prominent nonprofit think tanks that work on privacy issues that received a total of $1.5 million over a 18-month period ending Dec. 31, 2018. The groups included such organizations as the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Future of Privacy Forum and the Brookings Institution. The actual total is undoubtedly much higher—exact totals for contributions were difficult to pin down. The tech giants have “funded scores of nonprofits, including consumer and privacy groups, and academics,” said Jeffrey Chester, executive director at the Center for Digital Democracy, a public interest group that does not accept donations from Google or Facebook. Further, he says, their influence is strong. The companies have “opposed federal privacy laws and worked to weaken existing safeguards,” Chester said. Accepting donations from these “privacy-killing companies enable them to influence decisions by nonprofits, even subtly,” he said. Such organizations—which bristle at the notion that donations may affect their views—often have great sway over legislators, journalists, and the public due largely to their collective expertise on complex issues and inside knowledge of the legislative process. But they also often push positions that favor the goals of Google and Facebook, critics say. Facebook declined to comment for this story. Google declined to discuss their privacy stances and nonprofit contributions. Both companies, however, provided their public third-party political engagement transparency reports. Legislation Draws Lobbyists Pressure has been mounting on Congress to rein in companies like Google and Facebook, which report astronomical profits and have enjoyed limited oversight by federal regulators since their creation. Google reported $7.1 billion in third-quarter profits while Facebook pulled in $6.1 billion, according to company filings. House and Senate lawmakers have privacy legislation high on their list of priorities.The current debate over what should be covered centers around whether Congress should preempt state privacy laws, like the one approved by voters in California, and whether consumers should have a right to sue tech companies for privacy flaws. The privacy debate in Congress has heated up in recent weeks as a House Democratic duo introduced a comprehensive privacy bill and their Senate colleagues released a set of legislative principles, which both promote a right to sue for privacy violations. GOP lawmakers in both chambers have said they want to work across the aisle to get a privacy bill done, but have pushed back against a right to sue. Google and Facebook want a federal privacy law, as long as it doesn’t disrupt their data collection and advertising empires, critics say. Executives from both companies have testified that they want Congress to preempt states because of a potential surge in local laws—often with more privacy protections than a federal bill will garner. They do support some new consumer rights, like the ability to transfer data between companies, but that could help Facebook and Google get a larger share of user data. Overall, Facebook and Google are seen as unlikely to back laws that strongly restrict the sale of data to third parties or affiliates. The traditional way for companies to get what they want in Washington is pretty straightforward—hire a lobbyist. Indeed, spending in those areas by Google and Facebook has rocketed upward over the past decade. Google barely had a Washington, D.C., presence in its early years. Founded in 1998, it spent a little more than $1.5 million on lobbying in 2007, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. By the end of 2018, it spent nearly $22 million, its highest one-year total ever. Facebook had an even faster increase, spending about $200,000 in 2009, a total that quickly climbed to a record $12.6 million by the end of 2018. Opinion Makers Targeted Organizations like the Center for Democracy and Technology, which received at least $960,000 from the two companies in 2018, are often quoted in the media as unbiased third parties and influence how policy is developed in Washington as such, despite receiving the tech company funding. The group supports allowing tech giants to sell user data to third parties with limited restrictions, a position that is in line with technology companies that profit handsomely from such sales, but not so popular with consumers. The nonprofit organization received $430,000 from Google and $330,000 from Facebook in calendar year 2018, internal numbers voluntarily disclosed by the organization shows. The group in fiscal year 2018 also received at least $200,000 from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a venture co-run by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. The digital advertising giants’ contributions were nearly one-sixth of its reported revenue for the year. Google and Facebook’s contributions go into a general operating fund that doesn’t impact what the organization produces on model privacy legislation, Michelle Richardson, director of the advocacy group’s privacy and data project, said. The center has also pushed for some consumer-friendly issues, Richardson said. It supports the creation of a national federal privacy standard with reasonable limits on data collection. It also creates new affirmative privacy rights including data correction, deletion, and portability, issues that tech companies generally support. Neither company opposes those ideas. [...] Foundation Support Access Now is an advocacy group fighting “for human rights in the digital age,” according to its website. The nonprofit aims to influence “decision makers in the halls of parliaments and corporate boardrooms, deliver digital security resources to users at risk, and mobilize global internet users to pressure the powerful.” Access Now received $100,000 from Google and $108,000 from Facebook in calendar year 2018, according to tax documents and figures provided by the nonprofit. The group has pushed for a federal standard that would allow businesses to target consumers with online ads with proper user consent. It has also pushed for increased Federal Trade Commission privacy enforcement powers, including increased fining authority. Their recommendations generally track with industry positions apart from more FTC enforcement powers and fining authority. Access Now confirmed the donations but didn’t comment further after multiple requests. The Electronic Frontier Foundation received $7,500 from Google and $25,000 from Facebook combined in calendar year 2018, Karen Gullo, senior media relations specialist at EFF, said in an email. The fiscal year 2018 totals are a big drop from previous years. The funding drop is due in part to certain programs, like Google’s policy fellows initiative, that EFF no longer relies on, Danny O’Brien, director of strategy for the organization, said. Google gave the Electronic Frontier Foundation $75,000 in calendar year 2017, $15,500 in calendar year 2016, and $325,000 in calendar year 2015, according tax forms, annual reports, and interviews with the nonprofit. Facebook gave the advocacy group $25,000 in calendar year 2017, nothing in calendar year 2016, and $5,000 in calendar year 2015, the disclosures show. Facebook’s and Google’s 2018 contributions accounted for 3 percent of EFF’s corporate donations and .002 percent of its 2018 year-end revenue. The core of the nonprofit’s donations comes “from individuals that are interested in protecting the internet, privacy, and free expression,” O’Brien said. The nonprofit never received enough money from Facebook or Google to affect its privacy messaging and the group has found itself “on the opposing side of these companies,” he said. If Google or Facebook “money went away, we would be fine,” O’Brien said. [...]