Privacy group petitions FTC to stop Big Tech from getting into the car industry – Washington Examiner

Fight for the Future, a liberal tech organization, has filed a petition to the Federal Trade Commission, requesting that it limit Big Tech's ability to enter the auto market.

The group argues that the Lina Khan-led regulatory agency needs to use its powers to prevent companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Google from unnecessarily extending their influence into the auto industry through the implementation of apps, such as CarPlay, due to concerns about the companies' data collection practice.

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The FTC should implement "a structural separation that prevents the 'big four' tech platforms from entering the auto industry and requires them to sell off their existing assets in the sector," the petition argues, according to a copy acquired by the Washington Examiner.

The petition claims that Big Tech's "actions threaten the data privacy of hundreds of millions of American consumers due to their inadequate data security protections and their history of the non-consensual collection and use of consumer data."

The document notes several questionable data collection practices, including Google's constant gathering of location data, Siri's recording of consumer discussions, and other security concerns. The petition also mentions allegations of Amazon employees having broad access to internal data alongside understaffed security teams.

If the FTC wishes to implement rules that create a "structural separation," the commission must have reason to believe the practices addressed in the rules are "prevalent," according to current FTC guidelines.

While FFTF did not attempt to make a case that the data collection practices were "prevalent," it did try to make a case for implementing rules separating the two industries through the current FTC chairwoman's legal interpretations. The petition referenced the prior work of Khan, who argued in a 2019 paper that the FTC could make rules dividing two markets by attempting to regulate "unfair or deceptive acts" under Section 5 of the FTC Act.

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The FTC has begun taking action to curb the influence of Big Tech. Most notably, the commission filed a suit to block Meta's acquisition of Within, a virtual reality fitness app developer. While the lawsuit is pending, FTC employees were opposed to Khan's suit before its filing. Amazon has also accused the FTC of "harassing" its executives amid its investigation into Amazon Prime.

Fight for the Future is a privacy advocacy organization that claims it fights to "ensure that technology is a force for empowerment, free expression, and liberation rather than tyranny, corruption, and structural inequality."

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Privacy group petitions FTC to stop Big Tech from getting into the car industry - Washington Examiner