By Jody Godoy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Commerce Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said on Thursday the agency should investigate how artificial intelligence products use the data they collect from younger users, amid privacy and security concerns.
Holyoak, one of two Republicans on the committee who could become acting chairman after President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, said the agency should assess what authority it has to collect information about AI privacy practices involving children.
The former Utah attorney general gave the example of children using AI services the way older generations watched a Magic 8 Ball fortune telling game, asking, “Should I go to the dance?”
“Who collects that? Who has that information? Where does that information go?” Holyoak said this during a speech at an antitrust meeting of the American Bar Association in Washington.
The FTC is enforcing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which governs how platforms collect younger users’ data, and has sued TikTok for alleged violations.
The FTC is headed for a shakeup when its current chair, Lina Khan, steps down or is replaced by a Trump-appointed successor. Khan’s fight against corporate consolidation on behalf of consumers won fans among Democrats and some Republicans, including newly elected Vice President J.D. Vance. But she has drawn criticism from some in the business community for her aggressive approach.
Khan has said better scrutiny of deals would deter mergers that would illegally harm competition.
Holyoak said the FTC should not take a dogmatic approach to mergers and acquisitions.
“Our job is not to stop deals just to stop deals,” she said.
Holyoak also said she thinks the FTC will lose its appeal in defending the employee non-compete ban. Holyoak did not comment on the vocal support for the ban from former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s pick for attorney general.
“I think we can all benefit from the court and the Supreme Court taking up this issue,” she said.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in Washington; Editing by Rod Nickel)
