Using its Wealth, Google Has Become a DC Lobbying Juggernaut—And They Still Know Everything About U

[madokie]

Google knows everything about its users, but it’s not very transparent about its political influence.

Google has become synonymous with tech buses, San Francisco gentrification and its involvement in NSA surveillance. It's not very popular among its neighbors in the Silicon Valley, or with privacy advocates. But now there’s another reason to look at Google critically— it’s become a lobbying juggernaut, using its vast wealth to push its political agenda in Washington, D.C. and in every state.

Public Citizen recently released a 60-page report, titled "Mission Creep-y: Google Is Quietly Becoming One of the Nation's Most Powerful Political Forces While Expanding Its Information-Collection Empire.” The report details how Google went from the research project of two Stanford grad students to what is arguably the world’s biggest information technology empire, and how it amassed a giant information-collection empire and is now gaining significant political interest.

Growing Political Influence

According to the report, Google “is the biggest lobbying spending corporation in the United States. In 2014, the firm has commissioned a force of more than 100 lobbyists, about 80% of whom are former federal government employees, to do its bidding in Washington, D.C., and has deployed agents in numerous states to grease the path for approvals for its groundbreaking technologies and keep regulators at bay."

While Google knows practically everything about its users, it’s not very transparent about its political influence and lobbying power. But there is enough information to piece together the puzzle. Using data from the Center for Responsive Politics, the report found that during the first three quarters of 2014, the information technology behemoth spent the most on federal lobbying among corporations, some $13.6 million. By the end of 2014, that figure should reach $18 million.

http://www.alternet.org/using-its-wealth-google-has-become-dc-lobbying-juggernaut-and-they-still-know-everything-about-us?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmark

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. And 'it's users' are pretty much everyone, given how ubiquitous

things like 'google-analytics.com' code snippets are. Virtually every major website I visit online uses various google javascript code libraries.

[seveneyes]

4. Sending google-analytics.com to its well deserved black hole

Having these in your hosts file may help ...

127.0.0.1 www.google-analytics.com
127.0.0.1 google-analytics.com

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

5. Yup, I did that years ago.

Along with most of the ad sites. /etc/hosts is the best thing since sliced bread.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Fortunately for me, Google map info is obtained by idiots.

The Google spy car made to our wee town.
All the addresses are off by 1/4 mile or more, some are off by 10 miles.
They have businesses in the south of the county mapped as being in the north county, stores are mislabeled, etc.

I have no intention of telling them.

[olddots]

3. its a vicious cycle

We search they search. We search they search us. ...

[RiverLover]

6. One election cycle, 1.6 million in donations to both parties.

Great article madokie. But I still want to know what they are buying with all those $$$. Protection from being penalized for wrong-doing? Greased wheels for wrong-doing? Just to feel involved?

They already help the govt spy on us...in their quest for "Don't be Evil". Bwahahahahaha