Privacy Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
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.
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.
Amid European uncertainty about the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (see 2504230002), Microsoft Chief Privacy Officer Julie Brill advised IAPP Global Policy Summit attendees to talk calmly with other countries about the state of U.S. privacy. On the same panel Thursday, Cisco CPO Harvey Jang said engagement with regulators and legislators is a must at the moment.
European Data Protection Supervisor Wojciech Wiewiorowski is worried about what's going on in the U.S. and its potential effect on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF), he said Wednesday at a streamed Brussels briefing on the EDPS' 2024 annual report.
The U.S. should continue exploring app store age-verification laws like the measure passed in Utah, FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit on Tuesday evening.
A loss of agency independence will ease the path for corruption and make it harder to address bipartisan issues such as privacy and increasing competition, said a trio of Democratic agency officials recently fired by the White House. For agencies like the FTC or Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, “if we are an arm of the administration, then instead of being a watchdog, we become a lap dog,” said fired PCLOB member and former FCC official Travis LeBlanc during a Center for American Progress panel discussion Wednesday.
The FTC will serve as a partner to DOJ as the department works to enforce its new Data Security Program (DSP), Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit on Tuesday evening.
Toyota was sued Monday in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas for the alleged collection and sale of drivers' data to insurance company Progressive, despite saying in their Data Sharing Policies that it does not share this information without the drivers' consent. Progressive uses the data in their Snapshot data-sharing program that measures a variety of aspects related to driving, the class action alleges.