FTC Says Tech Companies Must Protect Americans’ Privacy and Data

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson told 13 tech companies Thursday (Aug. 21) that if they censor Americans or fail to protect their privacy and data security due to foreign governments’ demands, they may be violating U.S. law.

Ferguson said this in letters sent to providers of cloud computing, data security, social media, messaging apps and other services, the FTC said in a Thursday press release.

In a model letter of those sent to the companies, Ferguson said that, for example, if a company censors Americans or promises them secure online communications but then fails to provide it due to pressure from a foreign government, the FTC could prosecute the company for deceptive practices under the FTC Act.

The warning was prompted by laws like the European Union’s Digital Services Act, the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act and the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Act, which Ferguson said can either promote censorship or weaken data security, according to the release.

“I am concerned that these actions by foreign powers to impose censorship and weaken end-to-end encryption will erode Americans’ freedoms and subject them to myriad harms, such as surveillance by foreign governments and an increased risk of identity theft and fraud,” Ferguson wrote in the letters.

The 13 companies to which Ferguson sent the letters include Akamai, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Cloudflare, Discord, GoDaddy, Meta, Microsoft, Signal, Snap, Slack and X, per the press release.

“I invite you to reach out by Thursday, August 28th to schedule a time to meet with my office to discuss how, in the face of competing pressures from global regulators, you will honor your privacy and security commitments to American consumers and meet your ongoing obligations under U.S. law,” Ferguson wrote in the letters.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a Monday (Aug. 18) post on X that the U.K. will end its effort to access U.S. Apple users’ encrypted data.

The U.K. had ordered to provide access to the encrypted data of American citizens under the Investigatory Powers Act, and Apple had protested the order.