Written by Nando Kasteleijnredacteur Tech
A hodgepodge of topics. So is the hearing with Google executive Sundar Pichai the best to summarize. Several themes came up during the whole session back and now and then was there asked why that was, but as often with this type of meeting received by the ceo in the not really tricky.
That is in part due to the concept of the hearing. The members of the legal commission of the House of Representatives questions; they get every five minutes. That is too little to have all the answers sharp questions. As we are also on Facebook-ceo Mark Zuckerberg saw it, that gives the interviewee the space to ask a question to ‘park’, or simply dodge.
Shira Ovide @ShiraOvide We can’t (only) blame members of Congress for asking the wrong questions. We have to also blame Zuckerberg and Pichai for evading explanation of how their data collection practices work. 5 days ago
it also appears now that there was ignorance and a lack of knowledge. A member of the House committee asked how a picture of him with unwanted comments on the phone – an iPhone – his granddaughter visit had come. This gave Pichai the opportunity to ask the question to parry with the reply: that is a phone from another company.
Aaron Rupar @atrupar After @SteveKingIA raises inscrutable concerns about iPhones, Google CEO Sunday Pichai patiently informs him, « Congressman, iPhone is made by a different company. » 5 days ago
Also, Google’s ambitions in China are discussed. Website The Intercept reported in August that the company is working on ‘Project Dragonfly’. The team behind it is developing an app for iOS and Android where the Chinese government censorship may apply. A controversial topic. One of the Delegates asked Pichai whether there are currently employees about a meeting. The ceo dodged the question.
Later confirmed to the ceo that the project « for a while was underway » and that at the peak there by a hundred people was worked. He stressed several times that his company has no plans, the search engine actually in China to launch.
From news coverage of Us media shows that there was an internal stated that the search within six to nine months would be launched.
Google and location
It was the Google ceo is frequently asked to the large amounts of data the company collects. « Google is able to a amount of information to collect which even intelligence agency NSA would blush », said the chairman of the commission in his opening statement. In particular, the collection of location information was frequently discussed.
That may have to do with a great story in The New York Times yesterday about this topic. It turned out that the location data of smartphone users on a large scale are collected and sold by apps that have access to the data, without users themselves knowing.
In a fierce debate asked a member of the commission, or Google him would follow if he of the one side of the room to the other would walk away. Pichai answered, nuanced, that it all depends on his settings. He then got the accusation that the question was dodged. « You earn 100 million a year, you should be able to answer that question. »
another deputy was referring to bugs in Google+, making user data accessible to developers. « We can Google to trust it with our data? » Pichai stressed that this is a major priority of the company.
The hearing was Dinamobet briefly shut down because of this protester, who is a poster with the Google logo combined with the Chinese flag aloft AFP
From the beginning it was also clear that the Republicans are a important hobby often would appoint: the theory that Google is deliberately conservative voices on the internet wegdrukt. One after another accused the company, some said to have experienced.
Pichai could once deny, or ten times, it kept coming back. The conservatives in the room cast in addition to the theory that Google may be single or multiple people who are the search results of millions of Americans influence. « Someone is doing something », it was argued. Also of this, said Pichai, it is not possible to do this.
Google is not the only company that is accused. Also Facebook and Twitter are asked to do.
The sequel
now What the next step is to wait and see. In January the Democrats the leadership in the House of Representatives. There seems to be in both camps need to take action against the techreuzen.
In any case, Sundar Pichai his baptism of fire in Washington passed. All mag-ie spend part of the politicians to thank, not only the ignorance showed, but it also not always wanted to lose weight. Just like Facebook in the hearings earlier this year, also had to Google some compliments, for example, for the support that the techgigant gives to small businesses.
the rat king @MikeIsaac i havent watched much (any) or the google hearings but i would guess it’s going better for them than other companies in the past, the thing that Sundar has that other tech ceos often lack is a capacity for empathy that people respond to in person. comes off more charismatic. 5 days ago Share this article:
