The FTC won’t set aside its consent order in a “stalkerware” case involving the company Support King and its website SpyFone.com, the federal agency said Monday. Commissioners voted 2-0 Friday in favor of an order to deny a June 27 petition by the company’s CEO Scott Zuckerman.
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 U.S. Supreme Court on Monday signaled a willingness to uphold President Donald Trump’s firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a decision that liberal justices said could totally upend existing structures at independent agencies like the FTC and the FCC (see 2511280002).
Education technology provider Illuminate Education must implement a data security program and delete unnecessary data in response to a data breach that may have stemmed from security failures, the FTC said Monday.
Privacy Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching the title or clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Possible federal preemption of state laws and concerns about whether the FTC has the bandwidth to enforce new kids’ privacy and safety measures came up frequently during a hearing Tuesday of the House Commerce Committee subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade. The session was meant to discuss nearly 20 kids’ privacy and safety bills (see 2511250080).
Industry and consumer advocates have weighed in on nearly 20 kids privacy and safety bills set for a subcommittee hearing Tuesday in the House Commerce Committee (see 2511250080). In written testimony posted over the weekend, some witnesses additionally warned the lawmakers against inadvertently weakening privacy protections in an effort to promote online safety.
The FTC’s statutory removal protections are unconstitutional, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor doesn’t apply to a modern FTC exercising substantial executive power, DOJ argued Monday before the high court.
A Nov. 6 joint settlement between three states and software company Illuminate Education over a data breach that exposed students' information highlights regulators' focus on protecting minors’ data, said privacy pros and an attorney in interviews. In addition, the incident and settlement show that no matter what sector a breach occurs in, the principles of information security are similar, the attorney said.
Election year 2026 could drive more headline-grabbing state privacy enforcement, said Womble Bond privacy attorney Tyler Bridegan in an interview with Privacy Daily. In general, state privacy enforcement seems to be at the "very beginning of the bell curve,” said Bridegan, who was recently director of privacy and tech enforcement for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). Also, Bridegan praised Ryan Baasch, another alumnus of the Texas AG's office, who's expected to be nominated as an FTC commissioner by President Donald Trump.
House Commerce Committee members will discuss an updated version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) during a Dec. 2 subcommittee hearing, the committee said Tuesday.