The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has entered into a settlement agreement with a company that claims on its website that it is EU U.S. Privacy Shield certified, when in fact, it had only started the process and stopped midway.
The FTC also sent warning letters to:
The U.S. Congress is considering increased enforcement powers for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), reports Bloomberg’s Sara Merken
“House and Senate lawmakers are weighing whether to give the FTC broad or targeted new rulemaking authority, and more resources, to enforce privacy and data security obligations. They also are discussing whether federal legislation should override state
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:
Data-rich companies like Facebook have a unique opportunity to capitalize on the recent surge in regulatory scrutiny and turn it to their advantage.
Savvy tech companies are attuned to public opinion and won’t allow others to control the narrative. They are already taking steps to regain the upper hand in the privacy debate.
Facebook demonstrated