The California Consumer Privacy Act “has galvanized the U.S. Congress to start thinking really hard about federal privacy legislation. We’ve encouraged them to do that,” said Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simons.
Other key takeaways from Simons’ conversation with International Association of Privacy Professionals Chief Knowledge Officer Omer Tene:
“The Federal Trade Commission is aiming to bring more EU-U.S. Privacy Shield enforcement actions for significant violations of the cross-border data transfer program, the agency’s consumer protection chief said April 26.”
There are a group of cases the FTC is “looking at right now and they include” alleged substantive violations of the Privacy Shield program
A study shows that “92 percent of 36 mental health apps shared data with at least one third party — mostly services that help with marketing, advertising, or data analytics.”
“About half of those apps did not disclose that third-party data sharing, for a few different reasons: nine apps didn’t have a privacy policy at
On April 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released a new Risk Alert that identifies common compliance issues facing investment advisers and broker-dealers with respect to the privacy notice and safeguard policy requirements of Regulation S-P. The Risk Alert aggregates common compliance issues
“I have long advocated for privacy protections that include the principles of knowledge, notice and the right to say ‘no’ to companies that want our information. But it is increasingly clear that a true 21st-century comprehensive privacy bill must do more than simply enshrine notice and consent standards,” said Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), the author
“Europe has taken the first steps to protect citizens’ privacy and our new regulations have proven to be effective — both for our citizens and our businesses… It’s time for America to join us, Japan and many others in our work, and be part of setting the global standards on privacy.” — European Commissioner Vera
Some in Congress are renewing calls for strict federal privacy protections.
“We need a privacy bill of rights, a set of protections that is no less stringent than the people of California enjoy, no less protected than the people of Europe have,” says Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) also cited both the California
FTC, the De Facto Privacy Regulator.
The Federal Trade “Commission has settled or litigated more than 60 law enforcement actions against businesses that allegedly failed to take reasonable precautions to protect consumers’ data,” said FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Andrew Smith in testimony before a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee.
Cases included:
Competition considerations in how big tech companies handle personal data – the U.S. version.
Bloomberg Law reports that following a number of actions by European Union competition authorities, U.S. antitrust regulators plan to ramp up their scrutiny of tech companies’ data practices, acknowledging rising concerns that consumer information can increase market power.
“The Federal Trade
Changes to the Safeguards Rule and the Privacy Rule applicable to financial institutions under the Gramm Leach Bliley Act are in the works.
The FTC is proposing changes to the Safeguards Rule to add more detailed requirements for what should be included in the comprehensive information security program mandated by the Rule. This will include: