Ramirez Wants FTC to ‘Vigorously’ Enforce Privacy Rules, Examine Internet-Connected Devices
It’s “vital” the FTC continue taking on major tech companies to protect consumers’ privacy, FTC Chairman Edith Ramirez said Friday at an International Association of Privacy Professionals conference. Under former Chairman Jon Leibowitz, who retired earlier this year, the FTC played an “instrumental” role in elevating the discussion over digital privacy, including more than 50 enforcement actions over the past three years, Ramirez said. The agency currently has consent decrees with Google and Facebook to improve their privacy practices. “We haven’t been shy about taking on the tech giants,” Ramirez said. “That has been just tremendous.” The FTC’s efforts have also shifted the focus on other privacy issues, including the trend of companies like Apple and Google issuing shorter and simpler privacy notices, she said.
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Ramirez officially took over as the agency’s head March 4, soon after President Barack Obama appointed her. Since Ramirez already was an FTC commissioner, she didn’t require Senate confirmation as chair (CD Mar 1 p8). The normally five-member commission temporarily has a 2-2 split between the Democrats and Republicans, but Ramirez said she does not believe that will impact its ability to act. “We are a bipartisan commission, we were set up that way,” she said.
The FTC will “vigorously” enforce its updated Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act rule, Ramirez said. The revised version of the rule, adopted in December, broadens and clarifies companies’ obligations under the law to reflect the current Internet ecosystem (CD Dec 20 p10). “We want to make sure we're fulfilling the mandate that Congress has set out for us,” Ramirez said. “We engaged with consumer advocates, with the business community, with advertisers -- just a wide spectrum of stakeholders. ... We brought the rule current, right into the new millennium.” The FTC hopes to issue FAQs and further guidance on the updated rule “as soon as we can,” she said.
Ramirez said she wants the agency to examine the implications of connected cars and other Internet-connected devices. “The reality is that increasingly, it won’t be long before everyday devices -- refrigerators, TVs ... are going to be capturing all sorts of information about how we behave,” she said. “As these everyday devices end up collecting more information and end up being connected to the Internet, it’s more important for companies to take data security very seriously.” Ramirez said she wants the agency to at least hold a workshop addressing the issue in the coming months. “I think it absolutely needs further study, and I certainly hope to make sure that the agency is looking at all of these new developments."
The FTC is also paying attention to privacy concerns in the “mobile space,” Ramirez said. “It’s a major priority given the fact that penetration of mobile devices is so high across the population of American consumers,” she said. The agency said in a report Friday that while mobile payments can benefit consumers, they also present potential privacy issues. The FTC encouraged companies to “develop clear policies on how consumers can resolve disputes arising from a fraudulent mobile payment or an unauthorized charge.” The agency also encouraged industry-wide adoption of measures to ensure the entire mobile payment process is secure, and to practice “privacy by design” into their services from the outset (http://1.usa.gov/ZlGBWS). (See separate report in this issue.)
It’s not clear yet what policy will come out of the debate over Do Not Track, but all of the interested stakeholders will need to work to achieve a compromise solution, Ramirez said. Ramirez, Leibowitz and FTC Commissioner Julie Brill have been supportive of efforts to craft a policy to address the issue. There is reason for optimism in the wake of progress at a recent World Wide Web Consortium meeting, but “we need to have all the parties come together in order to fashion something that is both consensus-based and ultimately proves to be a lasting solution,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez said she wants to expand the FTC’s research role, saying the agency was founded to be a research institution as well as an enforcement agency. “For me, that’s going to be a priority, making sure the work we do is evidence-based, that we are looking at what’s happening in academia, that we consult with scholars” she said. Work to increase research resources within the agency began under Leibowitz, Ramirez said. “He wanted to make sure that we have the internal resources and the infrastructure to make sure that we can conduct investigations, that we can study and learn about what is taking place in this arena,” she said. The agency has hired technologists and attorneys with technical expertise to “make sure that all of that insight and expertise is integrated into the day-to-day work” of the agency, Ramirez said.