Big Internet companies would have a lot to lose if their users' privacy is breached

Apr 30, 2013 06:49 GMT  ·  By

With regulators taking more and more interest in the Internet activity of the population, lobby groups formed of tech officials become more active and seem to be in the papers daily.

Ever since the launch of FWD.us, an advocacy group that includes Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and other important names from Silicon Valley, technology-related issues seem to be the main concern of politicians.

Bringing back CISPA has put technology in the center of attention once more, as more and more bodies oppose what they consider to be a flawed law.

However, CISPA seems to have reached a dead end in the Senate, where legislators are taking it apart.

While the bill is unlikely to pass in its current form, some of its components might be found in other law projects.

Internet Association is a new lobby group working to preserve the interests of the Internet industry members.

Among the group’s members you can find big companies, such as Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Amazon, LinkedIn and eBay.

They have released a statement in which they condemn reports that the FBI is seeking to gain even more power against Internet companies by requiring them to install online surveillance backdoors.

If they don’t, they’d get penalized with tens of thousands of dollars as a starting point.

“The Department of Justice has not made the case for granting law enforcement broad new powers over Internet companies for purposes of new wiretap authority. There are a number of serious unintended consequences with this flawed proposal. A wiretap mandate for the Internet is dead on arrival,” the statement said.

The Internet industry is starting to regain its voice in the battle against lawmakers in an effort to protect the larger crowds of users.

Because, in the end, who would want to use their products if they cannot guarantee their online privacy?

With more and more big names joining the cause, such as Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Ballmer and Mayer, we can only hope that the interests of all Internet users will be protected from federal bodies that will stop at nothing.

It is also worth the mention that these efforts are added to those each company make on their own.

For instance, Facebook has spent $2.45 million (€1.9 million) in the first three months of 2013 alone, while Google shelled out $3.35 million (€2.6 million) in the same time period.