Two Federal Trade Commissioners – one a Republican and the other a Democrat – agreed on Oct. 28 that the agency has the tricky task of balancing both consumer data privacy and business interests, and must find that balance even as the fast pace of technological advancement makes the value of prescriptive regulation uncertain. […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offered its comments on the draft version of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) Privacy Framework, including praise and suggestions for several additions to the policy.
[…]An Office of Inspector General (OIG) report released today says that one of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) top management challenges is securing its information systems and networks from destruction, data loss, and compromise, based on an audit covering Fiscal Year 2018.
[…]Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., a long-time advocate for stronger data privacy rules and current sponsor of the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act, said today it’s unlikely that Congress will take action on this issue this year.
[…]Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on July 31, introduced a bill to combat illegal robocalls.
[…]Credit reporting agency Equifax said today it has agreed to pay $671 million to settle government investigations and legal actions related to a 2017 data breach that exposed information on about 147 million U.S. consumers.
[…]Data privacy and online child protection experts at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today called for multi-layered approaches to online data monitoring, policies, and enforcement to safeguard children from sexual exploitation and exposure to inappropriate content online.
[…]The House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittee proposed a total of $24.5 billion for FSGG discretionary budget authority in fiscal year 2020, which includes funding for election security, modernizing the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), and protecting consumer data.
[…]The Justice Department (DoJ) is preparing a potential antitrust investigation of Google to examine the tech giant’s internal practices and search rankings, according to the Wall Street Journal.
[…]Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee released a draft of the fiscal year 2020 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) funding bill that would see the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) get a bump in their funding.
[…]Congress must take action to ensure that consumer data is being adequately protected at consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), witnesses said at Tuesday’s House Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy hearing.
[…]Panelists representing small businesses advocated for Federal uniformity and preempt over state data privacy laws and against data protection regulations that would disproportionately burden smaller companies at a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection hearing today.
[…]The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recapped a busy year in enforcement actions the agency undertook in 2018 in its newly issued privacy and data security update.
[…]In written testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations, Alicia Puente, director of Financial Market and Community Investment at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), suggested that increased authorities for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could enhance privacy enforcement and consumer protection online.
[…]A report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that passage of an internet privacy law plus expanded authorities could help the Federal government better protect consumer privacy, adding ammo to the recent push for a national data privacy law.
[…]The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) needs to conduct speedier investigations into wireless carriers’ handling of customer location data, according to comments made Friday by FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
[…]Two senior House leaders with jurisdiction over major tech-sector issues drew familiar battle lines today over the issue of net neutrality – or how providers of Internet service should or should not have their service offerings and operations regulated by the Federal government.
[…]Yesterday, 13 Democratic Senators signed and sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Joe Simons expressing their concerns over the FTC’s ability to monitor and respond to phone spam and robocalls during the partial government shutdown.
[…]Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday called for the Federal Trade Commission to take a larger role in protecting online consumer data by creating and overseeing a data-broker clearinghouse under which all brokers would have to register so that consumers could track how their data has been sold or deleted.
[…]The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) came to an updated agreement continuing efforts to stop fraudulent practices that target U.S. service members, veterans and dependents who use military education benefits.
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