Big tech companies such as Google, Meta, and X, are now playing a critical role in our lives. These platforms have become super powerful in social media, influencing elections and determining the kind of content users see. These companies have been accused of maintaining user data to help third parties with ad targeting. On the other hand, the government also uses social media data to spy on users. This article will examine who controls your data between social media and the government.

What Are Big Techs?

Big tech refers to a few multinational companies dominating the technology niche and beyond. While these companies offer critical services, they are criticized for their data-holding, opinions, and marketing manipulation. They also lack transparency in handling data on top of their biased algorithm. This often raises concerns over data privacy and surveillance. Some of the big tech companies are:

• Google
• Facebook
• Apple
• Microsoft
• Amazon

Data Tracked By Big Tech Companies

These companies usually manage millions of gigabytes of data. With their immense power, their misuse of this data can cause significant damage to companies' data. Reports indicate that Meta, Google, and Apple have the most extensive surveillance systems in the world, and are accused of tracking the activities of their users.

A good example of the data tracked was seen in 2024 when a Times of London journalist requested her data from Meta to determine how much of her data they were tracking. She received over 20,000 pages, including her interactions with apps and websites, even when these weren't connected to her Meta account.

She discovered that in addition to the Meta Pixel tracking her data, Meta also had data-sharing agreements with various organizations, including banks, groceries, stores, local governments, and more.  

This meant that Meta had tracked all her data, and there was no day that they didn’t collect it. Similarly, Google and Apple also hold large volumes of user data. They even create detailed profiles regularly shared with third parties that can be given to the government upon request.

How Big Techs Partners With Governments in Tracking Data

Reports indicate that FISA's requests for data increased by 2171% between 2013 and 20123. In the same period, Google's requests rose by 594%. Apple's numbers were up by 274% even though the company wasn't open about its data. In Europe, the trend of governments requiring data from big tech companies was the same, but on a smaller scale.

According to data from the European Union governments, data from 164,000 social media accounts were requested in the first six months of 2024. This was about a 1377% increase from the 11,000 accounts made by the governments in the last six months of 2014.

During the same period, Google shared 1416% more data with European Unions, Meta shared 1268% more data, and Apple shared 2777% more data. The report indicates that Germany had the highest demand for data from Big Tech. During the second half of 2024, there were over 77,000 requests for account data. This was followed by France, which requested 26,0000 accounts during the second half of 2024.

These numbers indicate that government collaboration with big tech companies for data isn't happening only in the U.S., but in other parts of the world. While the EU has had strong rhetoric on privacy, data requests are accelerating quickly.

Challenges of Big Tech Sharing Data With Governments

Here are some of the challenges of big tech companies sharing data with governments:

Wrong Convictions

Since companies are supposed to obey the laws of the land where they operate, it can be hard to fault big tech companies because they share data with the government. However, doing so also comes with several downsides. For instance, law enforcement agencies can use their warrants to access sensitive data—they can request to see the people in a particular area at a given time. They can end up identifying false persons, leading to wrongful prosecutions.

No End-to-end Encryption

Specific FISA requests and national security letters allow intelligence bodies like the FBI to access specific data without judicial oversight. Big tech companies are aware of these abuses, yet they don't reduce the amount of end-to-end encryption of data.

In Conclusion

While big tech companies control user data, the government also has access to it. With increased cases of world governments requesting user data, leading to privacy concerns on social media, it is clear that big tech companies and governments can watch your activities. Therefore, it is advisable to take the necessary actions to protect yourself.