FTC Chair warns tech firms not to weaken data privacy to comply with EU, UK laws

Aug 21 (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission warned Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and other technology companies on Thursday that efforts to comply with British and European digital content laws could violate U.S. law if they weaken privacy and data security protections for American users.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson expressed concerns about the EU Digital Services Act, and the UK Online Safety Act and Investigatory Powers Act in letters to the cloud computing, social media and other tech companies.

"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," he said.