Internet providers collect ‘staggering’ amounts of data: US FTC chair

Internet service providers collect a “staggering” amount of detailed data on consumers, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan said on Thursday in discussing an agency staff report on information collected by major providers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

“We intend this report to be the continuation of an ongoing discussion about commercial data practices, and user privacy,” said Khan, who noted that the data collected could also crop up as an issue in merger reviews.

For the report, the FTC requested information from AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Charter, Comcast’s Xfinity, Alphabet Inc.’s Google Fiber and T-Mobile as well as advertising firms associated with AT&T and Verizon.