Explain data collection practices: US lawmakers to Apple, Google
San Francisco, July 10 : Lawmakers in the US have sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Larry Page, CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet, demanding information on how they collect and use personal information of users.
Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives sent the letters on Monday.
With recent media reports raising concerns about misuse of user data, the lawmakers sought information from the two companies on third-party access to consumer data, collection and use of audio recording data as well as location information via iPhone and Android devices.
In their letter to Alphabet's Page, the lawmakers pointed to reports that suggested that Google permitted third parties to access the contents of users' emails, including message text, email signatures, and receipt data, to personalise content despite an announcement in June 2017 in which the search giant said it would stop scanning Gmail for advertisements.
The Wall Street Journal last week reported that despite assuring users to "remain confident that Google will keep privacy and security paramount", it still allowed some third-party organisations to scan through Gmail accounts.
"In the context of free services offered by third parties, these practices raise questions about how representations made by a platform are carried out in practice," the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Alphabet's Page.
In their letter to Apple's CEO, the lawmakers asked if people's iPhones collect audio recordings without their consent and if Apple could "control or limit the data collected by third-party apps available on the App store", Fortune.com reported.
The House representatives asked is Apple collects and stores user information "through a different data-collection capability" even if people disable location-tracking services on their iPhones, it added.
The House representatives asked Alphabet's Page and Apple's Cook to respond to the questions by July 23.
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New govt in Maharashtra to be formed on Dec 5, Fadnavis frontrunner for CM post: BJP leader
Mumbai (PTI): Mahayuti alliance's new government in Maharashtra will be formed on December 5 with Devendra Fadnavis emerging as the frontrunner to become the next chief minister again, a senior BJP leader said on Saturday.
In the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, the Mahayuti alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) retained power, pocketing a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party, winning 132 seats, followed by Shiv Sena with 57 and NCP with 41 seats.
However, even after the announcement of poll results a week ago (on November 23), the formation of the government has been delayed as the tripartite alliance is yet to decide on who will be the next chief minister. Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar met BJP president J P Nadda and Union minister Amit Shah late Thursday to discuss a power-sharing pact for the next government.
A key Mahayuti meeting scheduled on Friday was put off and likely to take place on Sunday now as caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde headed to his native village in Satara district, delaying government formation further.
The BJP leader, who did not wish to be quoted, said the swearing-in of the new government will take place on December 5.
Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who was the chief minister twice and deputy chief minister in the last government, is the frontrunner for the top post, the leader said.
Another senior BJP leader said the chief minister's swearing-in ceremony will take place at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.
But before that, a meeting will be held on December 2 to pick the BJP legislature party leader, he said.
Caretaker CM Shinde has made it clear that he will fully support BJP leadership's decision to name the next CM, and that he won't be a hurdle in the process, while Ajit Pawar-led NCP has backed Fadnavis for the chief minister's post.
In the assembly elections, Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback. The grand old party registered one of its worst performances in the state assembly polls after it won only 16 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) could bag only 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray's (UBT) won 20.
