Blog Posts Tagged with Consumer Privacy

Even as we all adjust to day-to-day changes, your work – and the work of the FTC – continues. If you’re a technologist or academic interested in presenting your latest research at the FTC’s PrivacyCon 2020, please let us know by April 10, 2020. Check out the Call for Presentations and respond by the deadline.

We know you’re busy with the business of your business. But we’re hoping for an hour of your time. Why? It’s tax season and tax identity thieves, government imposters, and cyber criminals are out in force. Find out how to help thwart them so you can keep focused on your bottom line.  

They say hindsight is 20/20, but what about foresight? We’re not ones to prognosticate, but a look at notable FTC cases and initiatives from the past year suggests some topics likely to be top of mind in months to come. Here is a non-exhaustive list of issues in our 2019 rearview mirror and likely visible through the 2020 windshield.

You know that eerie feeling that someone is following your every move? If someone secretly installed a “stalking app” or “stalkerware” sold by Retina-X Studios, LLC, onto your mobile device, that strange sensation could be way more than a feeling. A complaint against the developer and marketer alleges violations of the FTC Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule.

The data that Facebook collects about its users could reveal a lot about users’ personalities. A company named Cambridge Analytica sure thought so. The FTC alleges Cambridge Analytica used false and deceptive tactics to harvest personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users – data later used to profile and target U.S. voters.

Whether you’re taking the midnight train to Georgia, a quick trip on MARTA, or a drive around the Perimeter on your way to one of the many Peachtree Streets, meet us in Atlanta on Thursday, August 15, 2019, for Green Lights & Red Flags: FTC Rules of the Road for Business.

In just a few years, the FTC’s PrivacyCon has become an Information All-Star Game, complete with panels as high-flying or power-hitting as the Slam Dunk Contest or Home Run Derby. (OK. High-flying and power-hitting if you’re a researcher, academic, or advocate interested in data security and consumer privacy.) The FTC just announced the agenda for the fourth annual PrivacyCon on June 27, 2019. Consult your calendar and save the date.

If you sell genetic testing kits to consumers, you’re probably familiar with the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of genetic information under some circumstances. You’re also familiar with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects health information collected by certain types of entities. Then there are laws enforced by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that pertain to genetic testing kits.

Steely Dan may be one of the best duos of the rock era. (Sorry, Donnie and Marie fans.) Their song “Hey Nineteen” reminds us to mention some FTC consumer protection developments that could be of interest to your company or clients in 2019. As “Any Major Dude Will Tell You,” when you’re “Reelin’ in the Years” – or at least recapping the past one – consider this non-exhaustive and in-no-particular-order case compilation.