Senator Hawley Says FTC Approach to Big Tech is “Toothless”

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging a more aggressive approach to privacy protection. Senator Hawley outlined the many privacy violations by tech giants in recent years, including Facebook's failure to honor the promises it made when it acquired WhatsApp, Google's use of location data, and the disclosure of personal information to third parties by many platforms. "There is no excuse for inaction," Senator Hawley said. Earlier this year, EPIC joined a coalition of groups urging the FTC to unwind the Facebook-WhatsApp merger, citing promises the companies made at time of the merger. With the one-year deadline of the reopening of the Facebook investigation approaching, EPIC has launched the campaign #EnforceTheOrder, @FTC.