The industry might seem unstoppable in this crisis, but ultimately it will be curbed, says the Financial Times’ Rana Roroohar.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has invited former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt to help lay out how to reopen the state. Google and Apple have teamed up to develop a contact tracing system being adopted by numerous governments.
Tech companies are helping dozens of governments track their citizens. Many of them hope to hang on to the data they are accumulating and, ultimately, to monetise it, particularly in areas such as healthcare.Google, Amazon, Facebook and Oracle were already trying to make inroads in the sector before COVID-19 hit. Contact tracing is moving ahead all too quickly, although information about the efficacy of surveillance as a public health tool is limited and questioned by some academics.
No wonder both Democrats and Republicans are pushing bills to ensure that any data collected for virus fighting cannot be used for other means. They also do not want to lose the legal protection that exempts them from responsibility for what users say or do online. The consequence could be that they are forced by law to do so. That would pose a threat to the targeted advertising business model crucial to companies such as Google, Facebook and even Amazon.The third push will be around antitrust. Amazon may be delivering most of our essential goods, but its incredible size and power also make it much easier for activists to argue it is a monopoly.
“The last thing they need is an increase in the extremely high fees already paid to these companies,” she said.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Big Read: As Singaporeans pine for a return to normalcy, COVID-19 has left behind a trail of despair for someFor some individuals here, COVID-19 has been much more than an inconvenience and a matter of adjustment to their daily routines. Many want to ...
Read more »
Commentary: The coronavirus is sending universities back to schoolOnline education won’t replace the in-person variety, but will complement it, says the Financial Times’ Simon Kuper.
Read more »
Commentary: This is how much Americans will pay to stop coronavirus spread and save livesA new analysis tried to estimate Americans' “willingness to pay” based on the implied value of social distancing and other public intervention ...
Read more »
Automated delivery cashes in on pandemic-driven demandREUTERS: The coronavirus crisis is accelerating a shift in the world of autonomous cars toward delivering packages instead of people, as big ...
Read more »
Malaysia reports 22 new COVID-19 cases, no new deathsMalaysia's health ministry reported 22 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 6,894.
Read more »