On August 21, 2025, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson warned more than a dozen technology companies not to weaken security or censor Americans simply to comply with foreign-government demands. The warning invokes Section 5 of the FTC Act, but it is not a finding that any recipient broke the law or a court ruling requiring a particular encryption design.
What did the FTC chair warn technology companies about?
Ferguson sent letters to more than a dozen companies whose services include cloud computing, data security, social media, and messaging. The recipients included Akamai, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Cloudflare, Discord, GoDaddy, Meta, Microsoft, Reddit, Signal, Snap, Slack, and X. The FTC said companies should protect Americans’ privacy and data security despite foreign pressure, rather than censoring Americans or weakening protections to make compliance across jurisdictions easier. FTC announcement and letter
Ferguson said he was concerned that foreign efforts to impose censorship and weaken end-to-end encryption could erode Americans’ freedoms and expose them to harms including foreign-government surveillance, identity theft, and fraud. FTC announcement
Which foreign laws and demands did the FTC identify?
The FTC named the European Union’s Digital Services Act, the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, and the UK Investigatory Powers Act. Its letters argued that these laws or related government demands could pressure platforms to censor content or provide law-enforcement access to encrypted information. This is the FTC’s characterization of the pressure; the warning itself does not independently settle how each law applies in every case. FTC announcement · Model letter
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How could weakening encryption raise a U.S. legal issue?
Ferguson’s letters rely on Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The argument connects a company’s security representations to its actual practices: if a service tells users that their communications or data are secure or encrypted, weakening those protections in response to a foreign government could, in the FTC’s view, make the promise deceptive. The letter also argues that a security change may be unfair even if users are not clearly told it was made to satisfy a foreign power. FTC announcement · Model letter
The model letter says businesses handling personal information must use reasonable security measures, including encryption of sensitive data, to guard against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. It adds that promising secure communications while failing to use end-to-end encryption where appropriate could deceive consumers, and that end-to-end encryption may be required as a reasonable security measure in some circumstances. These are arguments set out by the FTC, not a blanket rule that every service must use end-to-end encryption in every situation. Model letter
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- Brute-Force Password Attack Protection - Data is automatically erased after 6 failed access attempts. The data and encryption key are securely destroyed and the crypto drive is reset
- Auto-lock - The crypto drive will automatically encrypt all data and lock when removed from a PC/Mac or when the screen saver or "computer lock" function is activated on the host PC/Mac
- Secure Entry - Data cannot be accessed without the correct high-strength alphanumeric 8-16 character password. A password hint option is available. The password hint cannot match the password
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What does the warning mean for named companies and users?
Apple, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Signal were among the recipients. The letters addressed a broad range of technology services, rather than announcing a specific product change or a new encryption feature. Trade coverage summarized the advice as telling companies to “hold the line” on encryption. Trade coverage
For users, the central issue is whether a service’s actual protections match what it says about security and privacy. The FTC warns that weakening encryption can increase exposure to breach or interception, while applying foreign censorship requirements to Americans outside the relevant jurisdiction could also be unfair or deceptive under the agency’s theory. The letters do not establish that a named company has already made such a change or violated the law. Model letter
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- Auto-Lock —The cryptographic key automatically encrypts all data and locks when removed from a PC/Mac or when screen protection or "computer lock" is enabled.
- Secure Entry —Data on these flash drives cannot be accessed without the correct alphanumeric password of 8 to 16 characters. A password indication option is available for this flash drive. The hint cannot match the password.
What the letters do—and do not—establish
- They establish the FTC chair’s position: Ferguson warned companies against weakening protections or censoring Americans in response to foreign pressure.
- They outline a possible legal theory: the FTC could view a mismatch between security promises and weakened practices as deceptive or unfair under Section 5.
- They do not establish a violation: the materials do not report a final court ruling or find that a recipient company broke Section 5.
- They do not provide an outcome statistic: the FTC materials cited here report no breach count, adoption figure, or post-warning measurement.
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