The US lawmakers have now asked the Lina Khan-led Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to address abusive and deceptive data practices by hundreds of companies providing Virtual Private Network (VPN) services for individuals.
However, said the lawmakers, the consumer VPN industry is rife with deceptive advertising and abusive data practices.
The letter by Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) describes several abusive practices in the consumer VPN industry, including promoting false and misleading claims about their services, selling user data, and providing user activity logs to law enforcement, despite promises of ‘total anonymity,’ and a lack of oversight of the industry in general.
“We urge you to use your authority to take enforcement actions against the problematic actors in the consumer VPN industry, focusing particularly on those that engage in deceptive advertising and data collection practices,” they said.
The VPN industry is extremely opaque, and many VPN providers exploit, mislead, and take advantage of unwitting consumers, the lawmakers added.
