U.S. FTC Chairman warns Apple, other tech firms not to weaken data privacy to comply with EU, UK laws

Apple’s new ‘Tracked’ ad promotes iPhone privacy
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Chairman, Andrew Ferguson, appointed by President Trump, warned Apple, Alphabet, and other tech companies on Thursday that compliance with British and European digital content laws, such as the EU Digital Services Act, the UK Online Safety Act, and the UK Investigatory Powers Act, could violate U.S. law if they undermine privacy and data security protections for American users. These foreign laws target illegal and harmful online content, but Ferguson raised concerns about their impact on U.S. consumer protections.
Jody Godoy for Reuters:
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“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 said.
The letters are part of a broader Trump administration effort to push back on foreign regulatory requirements.
Ferguson called tech giants Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta, as well as smaller companies including X, Signal and Slack to meet with him and discuss how they plan to balance U.S. compliance with competing pressures from abroad.

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MacDailyNews Take: U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday said the U.K. agreed to withdraw a request to access encrypted data from Apple’s U.S. users.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with our partners in the U.K., alongside [U.S. President Trump and Vice President JD Vance], to ensure Americans’ private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected,” Tulsi Gabbard said in a post on X. “As a result, the U.K. has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘back door’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties.”
As for the UK’s lust for a surveillance state:
It’s not enough that every Brit alive has a government camera shoved up their ass 24/7/365? The UK has already slipped so far down the slope that they ought to rename the place Airstrip One. – MacDailyNews, November 3, 2015
The UK is a surveillance state gone amok. – MacDailyNews, April 8, 2025
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin
The current batshit insane “leadership” of Airstrip One is having yet another crisis of confidence. – MacDailyNews, February 7, 2025
Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. – Potter Stewart
MacDailyNews Note: Apple’s Advanced Data Protection for iCloud is an optional setting that offers Apple’s highest level of cloud data security. If you choose to enable Advanced Data Protection, the majority of your iCloud data — including iCloud Backup, Photos, Notes, and more — is protected using end-to-end encryption. No one else can access your end-to-end encrypted data, not even Apple, and this data remains secure even in the case of a data breach in the cloud.
How to turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud
On Mac

Choose Apple menu  > System Settings.
Click your name, then click iCloud.
Click Advanced Data Protection, then click Turn On.
Follow the onscreen instructions to review your recovery methods and enable Advanced Data Protection.

On iPhone and iPad

Open the Settings app.
Tap your name, then tap iCloud.
Scroll down, tap Advanced Data Protection, then tap Turn on Advanced Data Protection.
Follow the onscreen instructions to review your recovery methods and enable Advanced Data Protection.

More info about Apple’s Advanced Data Protection for iCloud here.

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