Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY NEWS: McSweeny discusses FTC efforts to educate businesses, consumers on data security, (Dec 15, 2015)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

The FTC needs to reach out to businesses that collect and store data, as well as consumers, to work creatively to solve the security challenges that technology companies and others face in today’s connected world, said FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny in a December 14 speech at the National Cyber Security Alliance in Arlington, Virginia.

McSweeny began her remarks, entitled “Two Steps Ahead: Protect Your Digital Life,” by noting that the core part of the FTC’s mission is to protect consumers’ privacy, including ensuring that companies keep consumers’ data secure. An important part of the agency’s efforts to promote data security involves educating consumers on how to keep themselves safe online and about the resources available to them.

Online technologies have transformed “our everyday lives”— providing access to a wider variety of goods and services, a greater awareness for new opportunities and experiences, and easier ways to stay connected with loved ones and friends. But these benefits come with risks, McSweeny noted. The risk of data breaches and identity theft “loom large,” and everyone has heard news reports about attacks on financial and highly personal data.

Security cannot be an afterthought, but must be integrated into each business’s culture and valued from the ground up to the executive suite, the Commissioner observed. The Commission’s “Start with Security” guide for business provides ten lessons learned from the agency’s more than 50 data security settlements. The guide also emphasizes the necessity of requiring secure passwords and authentication, and reminds companies that security is not a “one-time effort.”

McSweeny noted that, beside the Start with Security guide, there are other resources available to help companies integrate privacy and security into their products and services—from general guidance on protecting personal information to specific resources for building mobile applications and connected devices. The FTC also continues to bring data security cases that serve notice on scammers. The agency takes seriously the rights of consumers and will use all tools available by law to enforce those rights.

However, the FTC alone cannot make security a priority. It takes partnerships with other agencies, experts, and members of the business community to work together to make security a priority, the Commissioner concluded.

News: Privacy ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews