Tech companies are able to degrade product privacy protections without repercussions when "excessive regulation" insulates them from competition, the FTC said in a joint letter with DOJ on Monday.
FTC Privacy Enforcement
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the primary enforcer of privacy laws in the U.S., using consent decrees, lawsuits and rulemaking to address unfair or deceptive data practices. The agency’s actions influence how companies design privacy programs, handle consumer data and respond to complaints. This page highlights major cases, policy updates, and enforcement patterns at the FTC that shape the U.S. privacy landscape.
Companies participating in the FTC’s children’s privacy safe harbor program should review and update websites and service public notices by July 21, Davis Wright Tremaine attorneys said in a Monday post.
Executive power ultimately rests with the president, and firing subordinate officers is the most direct method of exercising this power, so President Donald Trump was within his right to fire FTC Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, the Christian Employers Alliance argued in a brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday.
Companies should consider taking concrete action to comply with forthcoming changes to the FTC’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule, compliance attorneys at Paul Hastings said Thursday.
The president has “absolute authority” to remove FTC commissioners, Republican attorneys general from 21 states said in an amicus brief filed Monday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (see 2504240027).
DOJ’s Office of the U.S. Trustee will appoint a consumer privacy ombudsman in 23andMe’s bankruptcy sale, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Eastern Missouri said in a filing Monday (see 2504160031).
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The House voted 409-2 Monday to pass the Take It Down Act (S-146), despite privacy-related objections from encryption advocates.
The FTC should investigate how neurotechnology companies are handling and sharing consumer data using brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, Senate Democrats said in a letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson on Monday.
Lawyers for President Donald Trump doubled down on what they argued is his constitutional right to fire FTC commissioners. In a court document Wednesday, the president's lawyers presented reasons why the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia should summarily dismiss the case that fired FTC Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya brought, challenging their March removal and seeking reinstatement.