Google plans on partnering with large banks and credit unions to make use of Google Pay, essentially releasing their own banking service (Browne, 2020). Many companies have unveiled or already use this service like Apple, Amazon, and Facebook. Cooperating with banks allows them to avoid becoming a financial institution and needing a banking license. This can be seen as a benefit since these companies can create technological products that provide a greater return from the money received than traditional banks. However, this can also be viewed as a controversial move as a lead at Accenture, Sulabh Agarwal, mentions that this is likely not mainly to provide banking services to customers, but may just be a tactic by the companies to receive more personalized advertising information and keep users addicted to the apps. Though payment through phone is more convenient, I think it could lead to a large invasion of privacy. Companies like Facebook already have a history of illegally selling customer’s information for advertising purposes, and financial information is even more personal and dangerous when shared to others besides the banks and the government.
To add on to @bga5038’s comment, I’d like to say that I couldn’t agree more. We need a government that actually understands technology like this so that they are able to regulate and monitor it accordingly. This is, however, unfortunately not the case. Conor Cawley from tech.co perfectly describes the illiteracy of our current government perfectly. He brings up the net neutrality vote, and the attempts to unlock the smartphone of the San Bernardino mass shooter, which showcased a complete lack of understand of what encryption even is (Cawley). He also brings up the Facebook hearings, where the sheer technological illiteracy of some in Congress lead to some hilariously dubious questions (Zetlin).
All-in-all, the potential difficulties of regulating issues like the ones listed in the above blog post and the examples Cawley came up with show the need to improve the technological understanding of those in power. While I do not have a solution, I do hope that we address this issue sooner than later.
https://tech.co/news/politicians-out-of-touch-laws-regulate-tech-2018-10
https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/mark-zuckerberg-congress-hearings-funny-stupid-questions.html
Any topic around “Big Tech” has become so controversial now. These big companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Google are entering so many different industries and introducing different functions, further knocking down local businesses, small businesses, and start-ups.
A recent article was pushing on the New York Times, and Kang defines a common theme among businesses that were affected by Big Tech: “The tech giants have used their powerful positions in search, e-commerce, online ads and smartphones to squeeze out them and other rivals.” (2020) For instance, Apple introduced a very sleek credit card that enticed many due to its captivating design. It was branded as a product of Apple, when in fact it was crafted behind the walls of Goldman Sachs. Although I do not know much about what Apple can view in terms of information, they could potentially use the credit card info, such as purchases, to better persuade people through ads.
Apple had to introduce their own credit cards — it seems like Apple Pay was not enough for them. I would not be surprised if Google makes the same move to elevate the competition between the two giants.
These Big Tech companies are getting to know their consumers on a personal level, which creates such a huge advantage in altering their business models to become more profitable. Some say this is clever marketing, while some say it is an invasion of privacy. Without regulation, these companies are just going to get clever by gaining more access to our lives. The government should comprise of tech-literate individuals who can understand the power of these giants and respond with regulatory answers.
Source:
Kang, C. (2020, January 17). Please Stop Big Tech, Small Rivals Tell Lawmakers. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/technology/antitrust-hearing-boulder-colorado.html