Cybersecurity Policy Report, FTC Commissioner Expresses Optimism about Prospects for Data Security Bill, (Feb 4, 2013)

By Ted Gotsch

A Republican member of the Federal Trade Commission is optimistic that Congress will be able to proceed with data security legislation that would finally provide businesses with a single standard to follow.

Despite electoral losses of lawmakers who had pushed for such measures in the past, Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen predicted this week that Congress would approve a bill that would benefit companies and consumers.

"If carefully crafted, such a law can help consumers and businesses," she said during a Jan. 28 Data Privacy Day event. "Given how far it got in the last Congress … I do feel it has a good shot. It has a good chance to gain traction."

Commissioner Ohlhausen said the FTC would be busy in the coming year working on data privacy issues, highlighted by responses it will soon receive from nine companies in the data broker industry. "It is vital we have a good understanding of data," she said, and any information the agency collected could help lawmakers in their efforts to craft legislation.

She encouraged businesses to pursue "privacy by design" by instituting security measures into any product or service during its development. She reiterated that companies should minimize data collection and should safely purge data they no longer needed. "It is really critical that businesses honor the promises they make to honor consumer privacy," she said.

News: Cybersecurity