If the lawfag was speaking of Beccera I have serious doubts..

Facebook, Google and other big tech giants are about to face a 'reckoning,' state attorneys general warn

Some of the country's most powerful state attorneys general are signaling they're willing to take action against Facebook, Google and other tech giants, warning that the companies have grown too big and powerful - and that Washington has been too slow to respond.

For many of these top law enforcement officials, the fear is that Silicon Valley has amassed too much personal information about web users and harnessed it in a way that's jeopardized people's privacy and undermined competition, often without much oversight.

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"I think what we've found is that big tech has become too big, and that while we may have been asleep at the wheel, they were able to consolidate a tremendous amount of power," Jeff Landry, the Republican attorney general of Louisiana, said in an interview.

Federal regulators have the primary responsibility for keeping watch over Silicon Valley - they can break up monopolies, for example, and penalize companies for privacy abuses. But some state officials feel that Washington bears some of the blame for the tech industry's string of scandals in the first place. Lawmakers in Congress long have struggled to adopt a national law targeting tech giants' data-collection practices, while federal agencies have allowed many of the headline-grabbing mishaps at Facebook and Google to go unpunished.

In response, states like Arizona and Mississippi now are taking aim at Google for the way it collects and monetizes web users' data. The District of Columbia, meanwhile, is challenging Facebook's business practices in court. And there are "numerous bipartisan discussions" among Democrats and Republicans about other areas where attorneys general can coordinate their attention on big tech, Landry said.

"We are in a moment where the federal government's level of effectiveness and engagement on a range of issues, on technology, consumer protection and privacy, is limited," added Phil Weiser, the Democratic attorney general of Colorado. Absent federal intervention, he said, "states in general or state AGs are able to act."

Asked about the criticisms, Will Castleberry, Facebook's vice president of state and local public policy, said the social giant has had "productive conversations" with state AGs. "Many officials have approached us in a constructive manner, focused on solutions that ensure all companies are protecting people's information, and we look forward to working with them," he added in a statement.

Google declined comment for this story.

The appetite for action seemed apparent last week, when state officials gathered in Washington for a series of events including an annual forum with the National Association of Attorneys General, where Landry is president. Concerns about the tech industry's privacy practices were on full display, while a few miles away, the District of Columbia appeared in court to argue that Facebook had deceived its users about its approach to collecting and monetizing their data. The lawsuit stems from Facebook's entanglement with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that improperly accessed data about roughly 87 million of the social-site's users without their knowledge or permission.

Federal watchdogs have been probing the matter for nearly a year, and they could soon bring a historic fine. But D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine opted not to wait for his federal counterparts, and he filed his case in December, which Facebook has sought to dismiss on grounds that D.C. lacks jurisdiction. Both sides are set to air their next round of arguments in front of a D.C. Superior Court judge on March 22. A slew of additional states, including New York and Pennsylvania, are proceeding with Facebook probes of their own.

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https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Facebook-Google-and-other-big-tech-giants-are-13691113.php