FTC Chairman Tells Tech Not to Weaken Data Security in Response to Police Orders
Tech companies could be in violation of the FTC Act if they weaken security standards in response to demands from foreign law enforcement, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said Thursday in letters to several companies.
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Members of Congress and tech companies have raised concerns about enforcers in countries like the U.K. seeking backdoor access into Americans’ encrypted devices (see 2506050051 and 2508190013).
Ferguson sent letters to Akamai, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Cloudflare, Discord, GoDaddy, Meta, Microsoft, Signal, Snap, Slack and X “reminding them of their obligations to protect the privacy and data security of American consumers despite pressure from foreign governments.”
He emphasized companies are required to comply with the FTC Act’s prohibition on unfair and deceptive practices. If a company “promises consumers that it encrypts or secures online communications but then adopts weaker security in response to demands from a foreign government, such an action could be considered a deceptive practice under the FTC Act,” he said.