Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY NEWS: Ramirez optimistic about solution to EU-U.S. data flow dispute, (Jan 7, 2016)

By Lynn Stanton,TR Daily

Attending a Consumer Technology Association (CTA) conference in Las Vegas, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said yesterday that she is “optimistic” that the United States and European Union will be able to “find a solution, hopefully by the end of the month” to the vacuum left when the EU Court of Justice overturned the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor agreement on privacy protections and cross-border data flows.

In his first interview with an FTC chair, CTA President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Shapiro said that some view the dispute as stemming from EU protectionism, rather than from differing views on privacy protections.

Chairwoman Ramirez responded that the U.S. and EU have different frameworks for privacy but “shared goals.” She also said that the current lack of a safe harbor is not good for commerce or privacy.

With regard to privacy and the Internet of Things, Ramirez reiterated her agency’s call for industry transparency about data collection practices “in an easy-to-understand way.”

Shapiro asked whether there was anything in the FTC’s mandate requiring protection of innovation by industry. “Our mandate is to protect consumers,” the FTC Chairwoman responded.

Asked about the agency’s work on the sharing economy, Ramirez said that a report in the wake of last June’s workshop on that subject should be released in the spring. Regarding the agency’s investigation of patent assertion activity, the Chairwoman said that the FTC is examining business models and issues, such as licensing terms and returns to the inventors.

Referencing the report on big data released by her agency yesterday, Ramirez said that there are potential benefits to the use of big data. “You can use it to expand educational opportunities [and] credit opportunities,” but “just because you have a big data set doesn’t mean it’s accurate,” she said. “We want to be careful that the use of big data does not entrench existing disparities,” she added.

News: ConsumerProtection Privacy FederalTradeCommissionNews