Thanks again, Chair.
Let me start by saying that I think the mega-data companies have provided a multitude of very meaningful benefits over the last couple of decades. Artificial intelligence is spectacularly beneficial in some areas, algorithmic programs, and so forth.
However, we were surprised to learn in this committee, back in April, when a Facebook senior Canadian executive and the deputy chief privacy officer for Facebook from the west coast of the United States appeared, and although they and others had many meetings with senior ministers of the Canadian government and senior decision-making officials, there wasn't a single registered Facebook lobbyist on the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada's registry site.
It's good to note that about a month later, Facebook has registered one official lobbyist, and we don't know whether these executives are still unofficial. They explained their meetings with the government officials as assisting them to understand the capabilities and processes of Facebook in, I guess, governmental terms.
Professor Stucke, you wrote an article entitled, “Should We Be Concerned About Data-opolies?” It is a very detailed article. You made one point, saying:
Companies need things from the government; governments often want access to data. When there are only a few firms, this can increase the likelihood of companies secretly cooperating with the government to provide access to data. Moreover, a dominant firm is likely to lobby the government on many more fronts.
Could you elaborate on that a bit with regard to perhaps potential compromises of government regulation when it comes to the consideration of a Cambridge Analytica-AggregateIQ-Facebook scandal?