Facebook, Google Fund Nonprofits Shaping Federal Privacy Debate

Few companies have more riding on proposed privacy legislation than Google and Facebook. To try to steer the bill their way, the giant advertising technology companies spend millions of dollars to lobby each year. Not so well-documented is spending to support highly influential think tanks and public interest groups that are helping shape the privacy debate, ostensibly as independent observers.  The groups included such organizations as the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Future of Privacy Forum and the Brookings Institution. Such organizations—which bristle at the notion that donations may affect their views—often have great sway over legislators, journalists, and the public due largely to their collective expertise on complex issues and inside knowledge of the legislative process. But they also often push positions that favor the goals of Google and Facebook, critics say.