Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY NEWS: FTC committed to protecting privacy, consumers’ data, Chairwoman testifies, (May 11, 2016)
Organizations Mentioned:Federal Communications Commission | U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
By Greg Hammond, J.D.
The FTC’s experience and expertise can help inform the process on the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to craft privacy regulations in the broadband sphere, according to testimony delivered today by FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.
In the FTC’s prepared statement on “Examining the Proposed FCC Privacy Rules,” Ramirez noted that the use of data will continue to drive valuable innovation across many fields, but also has raised a number of privacy concerns for consumers, including “massive collection and storage of personal information; the risk that detailed profiles will fall into the wrong hands, enabling identity theft and other harms; the release of sensitive information consumers regard as private; and the potential use of this data by employers, insurers, creditors, and others to make important decisions about consumers.”
The statement also discussed the FTC’s constant interest in privacy issues over the last 40 years, citing examples of its enforcement efforts, policy initiatives, business guidance, and consumer education.
In addition, Chairwoman Ramirez and Commissioner Ohlhausen highlighted the FTC’s privacy-related initiatives with the FCC, such as the agencies’ recent Memorandum of Understanding, in which they agreed to coordinate on their respective consumer protection efforts; privacy collaboration in creating the federal Do Not Call registry; cooperation in investigating the practice of obtaining unauthorized access to consumers’ sensitive information through fraud, otherwise known as “pretexting” and separate studies of security in the mobile ecosystem.
“The FTC is committed to protecting the privacy and security of consumers’ data, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Subcommittee and Congress on this important issue,” the statement concluded.
News: ConsumerProtection Privacy FederalTradeCommissionNews