FTC Backs DOJ’s Proposed Privacy Protections in Google Monopoly Case
DOJ’s proposed antitrust remedies against Google could force the company to “finally compete on protecting consumer privacy,” FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Deputy Director Katherine White said Friday.
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The FTC filed an amicus brief supporting DOJ’s Revised Proposed Final Judgment (RPFJ). A federal judge in August found Google violated antitrust law through anticompetitive behavior protecting its monopolies in general search and general text advertising.
The FTC noted the RPJF proposes privacy measures similar to those the commission uses in consent orders with consumer protection violators. “These privacy orders include requirements that companies establish programs designed to identify and mitigate potential privacy and security risks,” the agency said. “These programs are also subject to independent audits by third-party assessors and oversight by the FTC or a federal court.”
The FTC noted Google has signed three separate consent agreements with the agency since 2011 over privacy claims.
The FTC highlighted DOJ’s recommendation that the court appoint a technical committee “made up of independent experts that would be charged with ensuring that Qualified Competitors that receive data from Google have adequate safeguards in place to protect Google users’ privacy.” Committee oversight is “critical to ensuring” Google and its competitors “adhere to their required privacy obligations, particularly given Google’s past privacy lapses,” the FTC said.