The staff of the Federal Trade Commission is looking for information on the commercial activities of cloud computing providers, including concerns about their potential market dominance, effects on competition, and security vulnerabilities.

The FTC staff has issued a Request for Information to gather data on the competitive dynamics of cloud computing, the degree to which specific economic sectors depend on cloud service providers, and the security threats connected to the industry's business practices. 

The FTC staff is curious about how cloud computing may affect particular sectors, such as healthcare, finance, transportation, e-commerce, and the military, in addition to its potential effects on competition and data security.

Stephanie T. Nguyen, the FTC's Chief Technology Officer, said that significant portions of the economy increasingly depend on cloud computing services for a variety of services. 

The purpose of the RFI is to better understand the implications of this dependency, the general competitive dynamics in cloud computing, and the security vulnerabilities associated with cloud usage.

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A growing number of economic sectors are turning to cloud computing, which is utilised by a wide range of companies to provide on-demand access to data storage, servers, networks, and other resources. 

The government has filed lawsuits against a number of businesses for failing to put in place fundamental security measures to secure the data they held on third-party cloud computing platforms, most recently against the platform for alcohol delivery Drizly and the education technology firm Chegg. 

Also, the FTC has provided advice for companies on actions they may take to safeguard and preserve data stored in the cloud. The RFI will provide the organisation with the chance to get more details and perspectives about cloud computing in general.

The following are some of the subjects the FTC is requesting input on:

• The degree to which specific economic sectors are dependent on a select group of cloud service providers;

• The power of cloud users to bargain with cloud service providers or deal with take-it-or-leave-it standard contracts;

• Incentives that cloud service providers give their clients to use more of their services from a single source;

• The degree to which cloud service providers compete on their capacity to offer safe data storage for clients;

• The kinds of goods or services that cloud providers provide that are powered by, reliant upon, or connected to artificial intelligence;

• The degree to which such goods or services are independent of the supplier or proprietary;

• The degree to which cloud providers discover security issues linked to security design, implementation, or configuration and alert their clients to those risks.

• The deadline for public comments is May 22, 2023. After submission, comments will be published on Regulations.gov.

Workers from the FTC's Office of Technology, Bureau of Competition, and Bureau of Consumer Protection are collaborating on this initiative.

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The Federal Trade Commission aims to advance competition, safeguard consumers, and impart knowledge. On ReportFraud.ftc.gov, you may find out more about consumer-related subjects and report scams, fraud, and dishonest business practices. 

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