FTC releases major report recommending privacy reforms

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today released a major report on consumer privacy. From FTC -- "In the report, “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers,” the FTC also recommends that Congress consider enacting general privacy legislation, data security and breach notification legislation, and data broker legislation."

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today released a major report on consumer privacy. From FTC — “In the report, “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers,” the FTC also recommends that Congress consider enacting general privacy legislation, data security and breach notification legislation, and data broker legislation.”

U.S. PIRG has long urged requiring companies that collect and use confidential consumer information to comply with the Code of Fair Information Practices. Thes rules, first proposed in the 1970s, require data collection minimization, use limitation, no secondary use without informed consent, a right for consumers to review and correct dossiers and files, a requirement to keep information accurate and secure and additional protections that have become even more important as the Internet has accelerated the collection of consumer data, the use of those data for instant decision-making and the development of robust technologies to analyze the data to make predictions about and even manipulate consumers.

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Authors

Ed Mierzwinski

Senior Director, Federal Consumer Program, PIRG

Ed oversees U.S. PIRG’s federal consumer program, helping to lead national efforts to improve consumer credit reporting laws, identity theft protections, product safety regulations and more. Ed is co-founder and continuing leader of the coalition, Americans For Financial Reform, which fought for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, including as its centerpiece the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He was awarded the Consumer Federation of America's Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award in 2006, Privacy International's Brandeis Award in 2003, and numerous annual "Top Lobbyist" awards from The Hill and other outlets. Ed lives in Virginia, and on weekends he enjoys biking with friends on the many local bicycle trails.

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