Sen. Wyden called for the FTC to investigate the tech giant.
Several leaders on privacy and legal compliance have left Google in recent months, with the company also disbanding key oversight teams related to machine learning and data privacy. | Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesAt least six of Google’s top privacy and regulatory officials have left the company in recent months, and a key oversight team was disbanded, according to interviews and a POLITICO review of records.
Google’s machine learning privacy team, a key group that consulted on legal and privacy policy for AI, was disbanded in February, and only two members of the team are still with the company today, according to a current Google engineer, who was granted anonymity to protect their status at the company.
In response to questions from POLITICO, Google said it had not lowered its privacy and AI ethics standards, and had made no changes to the way it evaluates privacy risks with its new product launches. He specifically raised concerns that the recent departures could violate a deal the company has with the Federal Trade Commission: Since 2011, Google has been required to maintain a comprehensive privacy program as part of an FTC settlement after the company allegedly misled users into joining its Buzz social network. Wyden called for the agency to investigate the staffing changes at Google.
The former Google staffer said that the new hires do not have the expertise and institutional knowledge that previous leaders held, and also may not feel free to challenge any privacy or ethical concerns that arise. While privacy advocates and government officials consider such teams as essential guardrails, tech companies internally can see them as slowing down the development of new products — a source of friction in a competitive, fast-moving industry like AI.
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