The issue focused on the fact the federal government doesn't have the authority to impose its own rules on private companies. It was also critical of the way in which the companies' own websites were managed.

"We've been told by Google, by the companies themselves that they do not have a privacy policy," Mr. Pai said in an interview Tuesday. "That's not true."

Google, Facebook and other online companies have long had privacy policies and terms on how their websites and social media services are