Google, Facebook and Apple face US Government scrutiny

Executives representing tech giants Google, Facebook and Apple have appeared before a US Senate panel to face questioning regarding their privacy practices.

Senators in the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee questioned the company representatives on whether consumer privacy was being taken seriously, and whether handing over information to third parties represented a breach of that privacy.

The panel’s chairman, Senator Jay Rockefeller, said many internet users do not understand the level of information being collected about their online movements.

“This sounds like something fantastic, out of science fiction,” he said at the hearing. “But this fantastic scenario is essentially what happens every second of every day to anyone that uses the Internet.”

“Do consumers realize computers are tracking what streets they walk on and what websites they visit?” he said.

Other senators reaffirmed the view privacy needs to be taken seriously, mostly because people are ignorant of how their information and behaviour is being collected by these groups, even if comprehensive security features are available.