US privacy protections at risk from EU and UK rules, FTC warns

• Warnings are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to resist foreign regulatory agendas imposing on US tech firms.
• Big fear is that governments abroad could pressure companies into adopting broad, uniform policies for the sake of efficiency—policies that might inadvertently endanger free speech or dilute robust US data protections.

The US Federal Trade Commission has raised red flags with some of the world’s biggest tech companies—like Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta—about how they handle new international regulations.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson issued a strong warning: if tech giants try to follow new British or European rules by weakening privacy and data security for American users, they could find themselves on the wrong side of the US law.

Ferguson’s concerns centre on sweeping European reforms such as the EU Digital Services Act and the UK Online Safety Act, both designed to control illicit and harmful online content. British legislation like the Investigatory Powers Act adds another layer of complexity by demanding access to encrypted data.

Big fear

According to Ferguson, the big fear is that governments abroad could pressure companies into adopting broad, uniform policies for the sake of efficiency—policies that might inadvertently endanger free speech or dilute robust US data protections.

“Foreign governments seeking to limit free expression or weaken data security in the United States might count on the fact that companies have an incentive to simplify their operations and legal compliance measures by applying uniform policies across jurisdictions,” Ferguson cautioned.

These warnings are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to resist foreign regulatory agendas imposing on US tech firms.

Recently, American officials reported a small victory when Britain pulled back from its original demand that Apple create a special “backdoor” into its encryption for law enforcement access—something US privacy advocates fiercely oppose.

Around the same time, the US government ramped up lobbying efforts against Europe’s new digital laws, urging its diplomats to make their case across EU capitals.

In light of this regulatory maze, Ferguson has now invited leaders from both major and smaller tech outfits—including X, Signal, and Slack—to sit down with his team.

The agenda? To figure out how these companies can responsibly navigate clashing rules without sacrificing the privacy and free speech rights Americans expect.