The Tech Transparency Project seeks to hold large technology companies accountable.

TTP is an information and research hub for journalists, academics, policymakers and members of the public interested in exploring the influence of the major technology platforms on politics, policy, and our lives.

TTP launched in 2016 as the Google Transparency Project, then a lonely critical voice of Big Tech. GTP’s in-depth research and analysis has drawn significant attention to Google’s self-serving attempts to influence government and public policy. Google is now subject to increased scrutiny by policymakers.

TTP now covers the power, the influence and the effects of all the major technology companies.

TTP is a research initiative of Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life.

Click here to learn more about Campaign for Accountability.

Katie Paul, TTP’s Director, specializes in tracking criminal activity on online platforms such as Facebook. She also serves as co-director of the Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) Project and a founding member of the Alliance to Counter Crime Online (ACCO). She holds a bachelor’s degree from Miami University (OH) with a double major in Anthropology and Ancient Greek and earned an M.A. in Anthropology at The George Washington University.

TTP works with a team of researchers, data scientists, open-records specialists and other experts to create research, articles and data analysis that hold tech platforms accountable.

Click here to read more about CfA’s staff.

Our work is made possible by the generosity of individuals and foundations including Omidyar Network, Bohemian Foundation, Kapor Center, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Skoll Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and David Magerman. To ensure the independence of our work, TTP does not accept any donations from corporations.

TTP is a member of the Freedom from Facebook and Google coalition and partners with a wide range of civic groups pressing for accountability from the tech platforms.

Technology platforms such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple have come to dominate virtually every aspect of our lives—not always with a positive impact. At the same time, large technology companies are subject to vastly less regulatory oversight than their counterparts in almost all other business sectors.

The tech companies have avoided regulation, at least in part by, building significant influence machines in Washington, D.C. and in capitals around the globe. These networks have impeded the work of antitrust agencies and ensured any policies enacted advances their financial interests, frequently at the expense of the public.

The result is a mismatch between the effect these companies have on people’s lives, and citizens’ ability to affect those companies through the usual political process.

TTP is a much-needed effort to redress the balance. It aims to give the public, journalists, academics, and policymakers the tools to understand the impact of technology platforms on our public policies and our everyday lives. Using public records research, data analysis, open-records requests and more, our in-depth research empowers the public to demand that the technology platforms serve us, instead of the other way around.