According to them, so many customers are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and misled, thanks to the great deception provided by such groups. And now, the issue is being highlighted and presented to the FTC for urgent intervention.
The news comes forward as two leading Democratic lawmakers are calling upon the FTC to act quickly before it’s too late. And that has to do with how so many customers are misled on a daily basis and made to think that they’re using secure connections.
The lawmakers confirmed how the current VPN industry isn’t very transparent and that just makes it so much easier for people to exploit others.
Rep Anna Eshoo from California and Oregon’s Senator Ron Wyden revealed their complaints on the matter via a letter sent out to the FTC on Thursday. Here is also where they began urging the regulatory body to start a crack-down operation across the entire VPN sector which has been making use of the shadiest practices.
A lot of concern has also come at this time, thanks to the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the US Supreme Court. And that is when many lawmakers feel that VPN providers could be resorting to unfair means and hence could be giving authorities details about those interested in abortions after they were banned in the country.
It’s quite obvious that those in search of abortion would want their data protected and their identity held anonymously. Therefore you’d see them moving forward and making use of more VPNs, thinking they’ll be given that added level of security. But the reality, the matter is far from that, the lawmakers confirmed.
A lot of the issue stems from the fact that users literally have no proof regarding whether or not their log-ins are secret or their browsing history will be deleted or their processing data would be out of reach.
Today, we’ve been given access to thousands of VPNs and that is what makes matter worse. There are no tools or regulatory bodies present that are keeping a check and balance as to what is really going on. We’ve got no one to audit the security claims.
The only thing that customers are forced to rely upon are review sites or perhaps pages that detail others’ experiences regarding a particular VPN but even those aren’t as reliable as we hope.
Remember, blogs and websites could well benefit from making collabs with VPN service providers and that just adds more doubts on who you can really trust, at the end of the day.
The Democratic lawmakers were also seen putting forward a particular study from 2021 that highlighted how VPNs spread false information via websites.
The study quoted how 12 out of 16 VPN providers had presented false products while making fake promises and huge claims about the types of protection on offer. But in reality, they fell short big time.
These promises included users being untraceable to others where tactical marketing language was used to confuse users into thinking that they’d remain anonymous at all times. But the reality of the matter was that they could be well traced by government bodies and advertisers after carrying out a successful browser experience.
Another issue is related to how VPN providers could team up with law enforcement agencies and even advertisers. They would provide them with details about abortion seekers, and these people would be more vulnerable to being prosecuted than others.
It’s clear that a major problem with VPN companies lies here and a necessary crackdown is of the utmost essence in the US, especially during a time when people are being denied their basic rights.
Read next: FTC Vows To Act Against Companies Making False Claims About Data Anonymization
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World
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