United States of America: Closed consultation on FTC inquiry into Business Practices of Cloud Computing Providers' Impact on Competition and Data Security

On 22 May 2023, the public consultation closed on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) inquiry into the business practices of cloud computing providers' impact on competition and data security. In particular, the FTC aims to investigate the reliance of specific segments of the economy on cloud service providers and the number of cloud computing providers and identify security risks associated with the current business practices. Furthermore, the FTC aims to analyse cloud computing's impact on e-commerce, health care, finance and defence sectors. The FTC invited stakeholders to provide information on cloud customers' ability to negotiate a contract, incentives offered by cloud service providers, assurances provided by cloud providers concerning data security and commitment to inform customers of security risks. Finally, the FTC aims to identify the type of products and services offered by cloud service providers that are based on artificial intelligence.