Apple spent $1M on lobbying US government in Q3, focused on health, data privacy, more

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2014, Apple spent a total of $1,010,000 on a variety of lobbying activities, the company reported in a government disclosure filed on Monday. Apple's contributions are on the low end of a quickly rising industry standard fueled by aggressive solicitation from the likes of Google and other major tech companies.

In all, Apple's money addressed 39 specific lobbying issues, including those tied to existing and future products like e-book publishing, online safety, copyright and patent reform, safe driving (CarPlay) and regulation of mobile medical devices and health software applications (Apple Watch and HealthKit). The company also lobbied for IP infringement, ITC litigation reform and other issues pertaining to legal proceedings.

Continuing its push for consumer privacy, Apple lobbied for change in government requests for data, a hot button topic in recent months. International trade issues were also of concern. Finally, Apple pushed for corporate tax reform and international tax reform, both topics affecting its offshore cash hoard.

As noted by Computerworld, Apple's $1 million lobbying fund is small compared to fellow tech giants Google and Facebook, which spent $3.94 million and $2.54 million over the same three-month period, respectively. Other industry players included Verizon with $2.91 million, Microsoft at $1.66 million and Amazon with $1.18 million.