FTC Warns Big Tech Not to Weaken Encryption Protecting Personal Data
The FTC issued letters to big tech companies warning of the legal consequences of weakening encryption on their platforms to comply with regulations issued by foreign countries. FTC Chair Andrew N. Ferguson invited the companies to meet and discuss how they will address this threat.
WRITTEN BY
Sergio Goschenko
FTC Warns Big Tech Not to Weaken Encryption Protecting Personal Data
FTC Fights Against Foreign Censorship Attempts, Warns Big Tech Against Weakening Encryption
As governments around the world continue to enact regulations that put personal citizen data in the hands of governments, the U.S. is preparing to fight against this trend. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sent letters to major technology companies warning against taking measures to weaken the encryption measures designed to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens’ data.
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson sent letters to Akamai, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Cloudflare, Discord, Godaddy, Meta, Microsoft, Signal, Snap, Slack, and X, explaining the legal consequences of caving to the compliance demands of other countries and applying these to U.S. citizens.
The FTC mentions the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act as part of this escalation to censor and gain access to citizens’ data in the name of protection.
In the letter, Ferguson states that each of these companies has “independent obligations to American consumers under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.”
“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,” Ferguson stressed, highlighting the negative consequences of generalizing compliance measures not applicable to U.S. citizens.
The FTC argued that censoring the opinions of U.S. citizens and weakening encryption might violate current regulations, opening the doors for these companies to face sanctions derived from the application of the previously mentioned Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.
Finally, Ferguson invited each one of these companies to reach out and schedule a meeting to explain how they will meet their current obligations under U.S. law.
Read more: SEC Commissioner Calls for Full Protection of Crypto Users’ Financial Privacy
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