How Google’s Data Policy Hinders Federal Investigations and Tech Sector Lawsuits (Exclusive)

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Google has repeatedly deleted or improperly screened its data and internal communications to thwart lawsuits and investigations against the company, says a new report from the Tech Oversight Project, a technology-focused nonprofit that focuses on antitrust action.

The report, shared for the first time with The Messenger, draws on legal briefs, depositions and other documents from the company’s federal lawsuits and investigations. The analysis argues that Google has used strategies such as routinely deleting or shielding communications related to lawsuits against it, stonewalling requests for data from federal agencies investigating it, and withholding other documents by such agencies. He does not claim that any of these tactics violate the law.

The Google logo is displayed during the Viva Technology conference at the Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles on June 14, 2023 in Paris, France.Chesnot/Getty Images

“Google spends hundreds of millions of dollars trying to overturn laws and regulations in its favor, and when that doesn’t work, the back-up game is to lie and cheat to avoid liability for breaking the rules,” said Dan Geldon, former chief of the staff of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and an antitrust advocate who was not involved in the new report. Lawmakers and judges really shouldn’t trust them at this point.”

Google declined to comment on the report. But he has previously denied allegations that he improperly withheld information, including earlier this year when the Justice Department sought penalties against the company for what it said were the willful and repeated destruction of company records. internal chats.

Our teams have worked diligently for years to respond to inquiries and litigation, a Google spokesperson said at the time, adding that the company strongly rejects[d] the DOJ allegations. In fact, in this case alone we have produced over 4 million documents and millions more to regulators around the world.

Communications cancelled

The Justice Department, dating app company Match Inc. and game company Epic have separately accused Google in antitrust lawsuits of using a variety of methods to delete sensitive communications.

According to the Justice Department, Google encouraged the use of an internal chat platform that would delete chats every 24 hours, even as the company assured the government it was preserving all records. The DOJ eventually filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in October 2020. The Tech Oversight Project report found that the DOJ said Google systematically destroyed internal chats, violating federal rules requiring retention of potentially relevant communications for litigation. At the time, Google strongly objected to the Justice Department’s claim.

That’s not the only time Google has taken action to keep communications out of the hands of the courts, according to the report.

In February, Epic, along with Match as a co-plaintiff, said Google had told employees not to conduct certain communications on platforms that are subject to retention, such as email and group chats. The DOJ has also made similar allegations. Even after litigation against the company began, Google continued the practice of automatically deleting chats, the groups said in their statement, adding they discovered it during a meeting with the company.

Google’s refusal to cooperate with investigators is stonewalling, and hiding internal Justice Department communications and withholding evidence from Congress is beyond belief, said Kyle Morse, deputy executive director of the Tech Oversight Project. They deserved to be shamed, and we hope the Justice Department’s new merger guidelines will help curb Google’s anti-consumer practices.

Google cooperated in a congressional investigation into antitrust issues related to major technology companies. In a 2020 report, the House Judiciary Committee said Google and its parent, Alphabet, had provided lawmakers with more than 1.1 million documents.

Refusal of data request

Google has also worked several times to deny data requests from the DOJ, the Department of Labor and others, according to the new analysis and news reports at the time.

In a 2017 case, Google was accused of obstructing the Department of Labor on an investigation into gender pay discrimination by arguing that providing the required payroll records to the DOL was too cumbersome and expensive. The department eventually sued Google over its refusal.

Google would be able to absorb the cost as easily as a dry kitchen sponge could absorb a single drop of water, DOL lawyer Ian Eliasoph told the Guardian at the time.

In another DOJ investigation into a cryptocurrency exchange, Google withheld data required by a search warrant and worked to hide the data overseas, according to the report.

While the DOJ said in a court filing that Google had failed to preserve data required under a federal mandate, Google countered that the US government did not have the authority to seize it under the Stored Communications Act because the data they were stored abroad. Google ended up producing the data in response to a court order.

Google has massive market power and market share, a former chief of staff told a Republican congressman, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the company. And it’s hard to resist those companies many times that these cases don’t even see the light of day.

Documents withheld

The report also said that Google routinely withheld documents from plaintiffs suing the company ahead of depositions.

The Justice Department said Google improperly withheld documents from a large number of significant witnesses.

In another civil lawsuit filed by users in 2022 in federal court in San Jose, California for illegally tracking Google users in incognito mode, the company was ordered to pay more than $971,000 in legal fees due to litigation misconduct which boils down to failing to provide evidence as part of the overall discovery process.

According to the TOP report, a judge found that Google had failed to promptly identify witnesses, additional documents and data sources related to the lawsuit.

For nearly two decades, big tech giants like Google have gobbled up competitors as a deliberate strategy to control the online marketplace, and only in recent years have they come under more scrutiny, Morse said. Continuing to consolidate their monopoly power in search and online ads that manipulate the digital marketplace in the process, it’s no surprise that the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is investigating Google’s behavior and practices.

When asked if Google’s judicial habits were common when it came to how big tech companies battle it out in court, Geldon was terse in his response.

Google’s behavior is particularly egregious, he said.

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