Google CEO grilled about political bias, data collection.
Google CEO says company aims to be more transparent
It was Sundar Pichai’s turn to go to Capitol Hill.
Months after Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg went before Congress to testify about his company’s data-privacy practices, Google CEO Pichai faced questioning Tuesday by members of the House Judiciary Committee about political bias, data collection, privacy and the possibility that the online giant would launch a new, censored version of its internet search engine in China. Pichai was the only person who testified during the session, titled “Trans- parency & Accountability: Examining Google and its Data Collection, Use and Filtering Practices.”
Among the topics committee members grilled Pichai about are political bias in Google search results. The company has come under fire from President Donald Trump and some Republican legislators, who assert that the tech giant gives preference to liberal groups and organizations as well as promotes anti-conservative positions in some of its search results.
Pichai answered some lawmakers’ questions about its search results by asserting that the company doesn’t engage in favoritism with the information it delivers. He said Google “provides users with the best experience and the most relevant information.”
Pichai also said that Google continues to work being more transparent when it comes to the methods it uses to collect data from its users, and that it is taking steps to make it easier for individuals to control their personal information — and to remove such data from their privacy settings.
“It’s an ongoing area of effort,” Pichai said of Google’s efforts to improve the privacy of individuals’ data.