Washington (AFP)

The justice ministers of some forty American states, both Democrats and Republicans, officially launch on Monday a vast survey on the management of the personal data of the users and on the commercial practices of big technological groups.

The purpose of this investigation will be to determine whether these companies "resorted to anti-competitive practices to stifle competition and restrict access (to their platforms) and whether they affected consumers," said on Friday. release, Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General, a Republican.

Google has confirmed being part of the groups targeted by the investigation, which will be announced - all a symbol - on the front steps of the US Supreme Court in Washington, 18H00 GMT.

The online search giant is routinely accused by its critics of imposing restrictive covenants in contracts with third-party sites - online retailers or newspapers - thus preventing its competitors from placing their contextual advertisements on these websites. sites.

Coinciding with Monday's announcement, a coalition of US states launched a lawsuit last Friday to investigate Facebook's monopoly and dominance in the social media industry.

"It's not common practice for attorneys general to speak out about newly launched investigations, but privacy concerns are growing," said Monday. CNBC television channel Ashley Moody, Florida's Minister of Justice.

"We will use all the tools at our disposal," said Moody, whose state is engaged in the Facebook procedure alongside New York, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, from Ohio, Tennessee and the federal capital, Washington.

In late July, the group led by Mark Zuckerberg was fined $ 5 billion by the FTC, the US regulatory authority for communications, for failing to protect the personal data of its users.

The world's largest social network has consistently rejected monopoly charges, arguing that consumers have a lot of choices about how to interact online.

- Federal survey -

At the federal level, an extensive investigation into possible anti-competitive practices of the giants of Silicon Valley was launched in late July by the US Department of Justice.

Google said last Friday it was ordered to provide documents on past investigations as part of the investigation, ensuring "work constructively with regulators", while recalling that the company was "one of the largest investors in research and development, which stimulate innovation. "

Since the outbreak of the Cambridge Analytica scandal in March 2018, Google and Facebook are subject to particular attention, particularly from governments, both in the United States and Europe, concerning the use of personal data.

Amazon and Apple could also be in the line of sight of the States. Critics argue that Amazon occupies a dominant position in online commerce, while Apple would disadvantage rivals who offer their services on the App Store.

It is currently unclear whether state investigations will be coordinated with that of the government, although Moody said Monday it was "unnecessary to duplicate" with the federal level.

Christopher Sagers, a law professor at Cleveland-Marshall University, says attorneys general's efforts are more likely to succeed than those in Washington.

"I am quite skeptical that the government is taking real action against tech platforms (...) It is highly unlikely that a divided Congress and the President will reach a consensus to adopt a law on the infringements of competition caused by the monopolies in the tech, "said the expert.

"The states seem more serious, and it seems particularly significant that this new coalition is bipartisan, and it also seems significant that several states in this coalition have antitrust departments that are relatively large and well funded," said Sagers.

© 2019 AFP