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
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:
The Federal Trade Commission should be the primary enforcer of a federal privacy bill and to do so would need a larger budget. That is one point that seemed to be in consensus at the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing held on February 27, 2019 in connection with a U.S. Federal privacy
In its second annual review, the European Commission notes that the Privacy Shield scheme provides adequate protection for personal data but improvements are still in order.
Highlights include:
Acting Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen made it clear that she expects the FTC’s enforcement role in protecting privacy and security to encompass automated and connected vehicles. In her opening remarks at a June 28, 2017 workshop hosted by the FTC and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), she said the FTC
In an effort to standardize data breach laws nationwide, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) introduced H.R. 1770 to the House and Energy Commerce Committee this past week. Called the Data Security and Breach Notification Act, it aims to replace all state data breach laws with one federalized standard. Currently, 47 states and the District of Columbia
Officials from both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and European Union (EU) recently called for enhancements to the Obama administration’s proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.
The White House’s proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights seeks to provide “a baseline of clear protections for consumers and greater certainty for companies.” The guiding principles of