DEMAND THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (FTC)
ESTABLISH A DATA-BROKER CLEARINGHOUSE
Let's say you buy a pair of shoes from an online retailer. Seems pretty harmless, right?
Problem is, that retailer then likely sells or transfers your information to what is called a data broker. Data brokers are companies that collect your information, bundle it with other people's information, then sells all of this information to yet another company.
Currently, there is no way for you to track where your information has been, or where it ends up. This is crazy! While we wait for federal legislation, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should establish a data-broker clearinghouse. This clearinghouse should require all data brokers to register with the FTC, bringing them out of the shadows, and allow consumers to track the path of their information. It should also allow consumers to easily delete their data on demand.
What is the Federal trade commission?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent U.S. law enforcement agency charged with protecting consumers and enhancing competition across broad sectors of the economy. The FTC’s primary legal authority comes from Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices in the marketplace. The FTC also has authority to enforce a variety of sector specific laws, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act. The Commission has used its authority to address a wide array of practices affecting consumers, including those that emerge with the development of new technologies and business models.
How Does the FTC Protect Consumer Privacy and Promote Data Security?
The FTC uses every tool at its disposal to protect consumers’ privacy and personal information. The FTC’s principal tool is to bring enforcement actions to stop law violations and require companies to take steps to remediate the unlawful behavior. This has included, when appropriate, implementation of comprehensive privacy and security programs, biennial assessments by independent experts, monetary redress to consumers, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, deletion of illegally obtained consumer information, and providing robust transparency and choice mechanisms to consumers. If a company violates an FTC order, the FTC can seek civil monetary penalties for the violations. The FTC can also obtain civil monetary penalties for violations of certain privacy statutes and rules, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Fair Debt CollectionPractices Act, and the CAN-SPAM Act.
Evidence:
United States. Federal Trade Commission. "Privacy & Data Security Update: 2019."