Panel releases responses from Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon related to antitrust probe
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The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee today released written responses sent to them by four giant, iconic U.S. tech firms. Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon were asked questions by the committee that is investigating the practices of the four firms to see if they violate antitrust policies in the states. More specifically, the probe is looking at the companies' collection of personal data and the lack of security protection pertaining to such data. According to Reuters, the committee is also looking into allegations that these tech companies abused their size and influence among consumers to damage their smaller rivals.
Apple responded to questions about the App Store and its Safari browser
The response from Google pointed out that the majority of clicks made by users following the receipt of a Google search result are for sites that have nothing to do with the company. It said that video search results do not favor YouTube over videos posted on rival streamers, and that its word processing tools and other similar offerings are designed to work with all browsers, not just Chrome. Google told the committee that it could not provide some of the information that the panel asked for. When asked how many of its searches show the location of a business, Google replied, "We do not have a standard definition for what searches are considered 'location searches' and thus, cannot provide the specific information requested."

Apple was asked about the 30% cut it takes from in-app purchases and subscriptions paid for via its App Store
Amazon was asked about the aggregated data it collects from retailers on its third-party marketplace and told the committee that this data is used "for business purposes." It denied using the information to price, source or launch products with a private-label. Facebook admitted dropping certain apps from the developer platform that competed with Facebook's own features. For example, Twitter's Vine app allowed users to create six-second video loops, but Facebook dropped it stating that it was a replication of its News Feed. However, Facebook gave limited responses to questions about the way it handled other competitors. The committee asked Facebook for the "exact circumstances" that led it to remove certain apps like Phhhoto, MessageMe, Voxer and Stackla. The company's response was that Facebook "will restrict apps that violate its policies."
Things that are NOT allowed: