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REUTERS: Four senior US Republican representatives sent Monday letters to Apple Inc.'s general managers and to Google, parents of Alphabet Inc., to ask them about location data and marketing practices. privacy of mobile phones and the processing of customer data. The Energy and Commerce Committee, Greg Walden, along with three other senior Republican representatives, have written to corporations to examine companies' representation of third-party access to consumer data, as well as the collection and use of audio recording data. information through the iPhone and Android devices. "
Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment and a spokesman for Apple declined to comment." The letters, made public Monday by the committee, indicate that the companies can use consumer data, including location information and user records "in an unexpected way for consumers."
In some cases, "collect untriggered audio data from conversations users near a smartphone to hear a phrase "trigger", such as "Okay Google" or "Hey Siri." They said that there have been suggestions that applications third parties have access to this "non-triggered" data and use it without disclosing it to users.
Letters ask if Google Android or Apple iPhones collect audio recordings of users without their consent the committee "examines business practices that may have an impact on Americans' expectations of confidentiality.
The letter to Alphabet stated that in June 2017, Google had announced changes to Gmail that would prevent the analysis of users' e-mail content in order to Nalize ads, saying that He was making the change in the interest of privacy and security.
The Committee quoted a Wall Street Journal report last week that "Google still allowed third parties to access user email content, including the text of the message. , the electronic signatures and receipts data, to personalize the content. "
The letters asked the two companies to answer questions by July 23 and to inform them of the issues raised.High-profile congressional hearings in April on Facebook Inc.'s privacy practices, including the testimony of CEO Mark Zuckerberg
(Report by David Shepardson, edited by Frances Kerry)
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