Senators Blackburn, Klobuchar ask FTC to disclose whether it is investigating Google

Sens Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MM) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking the FTC to address concerns regarding potential privacy, data security, and antitrust violations involving online platforms. “Tennesseans are rightly concerned about who owns their Virtual You,” Sen Blackburn said. “They want to be certain that their privacy is protected in both the physical and virtual space. The FTC has a responsibility to hold technology companies accountable for securing their platforms. My hope is that through this bipartisan effort we will shed light on the need to protect competition and online privacy to keep up with the fast pace of changes in technology. Companies like Facebook and Google have transformed society in revolutionary ways and need to recognize that with that power comes the responsibility to secure their online platforms.” “In the past few years, rapid changes in technology have reshaped our economy and transformed the daily lives of millions of Americans—in many ways for the better. But during that same time, a small number of firms have grown to dominate key digital markets,” Sen Klobuchar wrote. “This type of market dominance has amplified concerns about how those companies protect consumers’ online information and about possible anticompetitive conduct that could harm consumers, innovation, and small business growth.”