SurveillanceU.S. tech companies increase lobbying efforts related to surveillance, NSA

Technology firms Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, among other tech powerhouses, are quietly increasing lobbying efforts directed at government surveillance laws as they seek to have a say in what Congress does regarding surveillance reforms and National Security Agency (NSA) programs.

The Edward Snowden leaks have put a spotlight on technology firms as they are often the provider of user information to government surveillance efforts. Traditionally, tech firms have not pushed for restrictions on the ability of the U.S. intelligence community to collect data, and while the major technology firms have increased their lobbying expenditures, with some increases earmarked as “related to government requests for data,” it is not clear what position these industry leaders will take, whether they plan to take a position at all, and whether they will present lawmakers with a united industry front.

Politicoreports that Apple, in its first lobbying push on government data collection, reported that it spent $970,000 on lobbying during the third-quarter of this year, with a focus on government requests for data, smartphone location, privacy protections, and patent reforms. Google reported a lobbying tab of $3.4 million between July and September, with a focus on patent reform, cybersecurity, and online privacy. Google also reported that it lobbied congressional offices on two surveillance reform bills which would limit the NSA’s authority, a bill by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and the other by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon).

Technology firms have rarely publicly pushed to restrict the NSA’s ability to request and obtain information. Instead Google, Microsoft, Linkedin, Facebook, Yahoo, and others pushed for more transparency to reveal to consumers the frequency and scope of surveillance-related information requests by the NSA.

U.S. technology forms are worried that the recent revelations about U.S. surveillance efforts in Europe and other parts of the world may lead to new laws in those countries which limit the ability for American technology firms to operate competitively in foreign markets. This may be the reason why many technology firms are increasing lobbying efforts in Washington.

Facebook reported a lobbying tab of $1.4 million third-quarter of this year, a 47 percent increase from $980,000 it spent in the third-quarter 2012. While the firm in the past focused on transparency of NSA requests, it recently shifted its focus to “FISA-related reform,” referencing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Microsoft also revealed in its lobbying report a push for FISA court reform, among other issues of concern to the company, such as  transparency and government data collection. Microsoft lobbying expenditures reached $2.2 million in the third-quarter.

Other tech company third quarter lobbying expenditures, as disclosed to the Clerk of the House of Representatives on Monday, 21 October 2013:

• Amazon spent $780,000, an increase of 42 percent from $550,000 in 2012
• Cisco Systems spent $890,000, an increase of 17 percent from $760,000
• IBM spent $1.18 million, an increase of 16 percent from $1.02 million in 2012
• Intel spent $980,000, an increase of 12 percent from $878,000
• Oracle spent $1.36 million, a decrease of 4 percent from $1.41 million in 2012