US Lawmaker Urges FTC To Address VPN Industry Practices, Which It Views As Misleading

VPN is accused of exploiting, misleading, and exploiting consumers (photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - US lawmaker Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) urged the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to tackle the practice of companies providing Virtual Private Network (VPN) services.

According to him, VPNs that are claimed to provide users with more security when surfing the internet are full of ads and abusive data practices.

According to a press release from Eshoo, in the letter, there are some abusive practices of the VPN industry such as promoting false and misleading claims about their service, selling user data, and providing user activity logs to law enforcement, despite promises of 'total anonymity,' and a lack of industry oversight on a regular basis.

Furthermore, they say that with the existence of a VPN, the search activity on the internet becomes unencrypted, so many users use it for searches related to abortion. However, the police cannot use the data to prosecute him.

They cite data from Consumer Reports, which says that 75 percent of the most popular VPNs “misrepresent their products” or make misleading claims that can give “abortion seekers a false sense of security.”

For this reason, Eshoo and Wyden demanded the FTC immediately address the practice of VPNs to protect the public who have abortions.

They also asked the FTC to develop a brochure telling anyone seeking an abortion about online privacy, as well as outlining the risks and benefits of using a VPN.

Earlier this month, the FTC confirmed that it would take action against companies that illegally share health, location, and other sensitive data.

On the other hand, the tech giant Google has taken action regarding the Supreme Court decision. Google promises to auto-delete location data associated with visits to abortion clinics.