Press Contact: media@consumerfed.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. —For years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been the primary federal agency that polices the unfair and deceptive ways your personal data is collected, used, and sold. During prior administrations, the FTC has successfully sued data brokers that sold the most sensitive precise location data about where people pray or get medical care. They cracked down on RiteAid for collecting biometric information from everyone coming into their stores then using its erroneous determinations to harass shoppers of color. They took action against General Motors for sharing precise location and driving behavior data without consent from drivers just trying to live their lives. They went after scammers, websites that try to trick you into agreeing to sign up for a service or manipulate your “consent” to sharing your data, took appropriate action when companies let data breaches happen, and tackled the corporate consolidation fueling many data abuses by Big Tech.
In his short tenure, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson has already taken several steps to walk back some of these measures taken to rein in encroachment of our privacy and exploitation of the collected data by tech firms and giant corporations. He removed a public comment period about surveillance pricing practices, dismissed an investigation of MGM Resorts’ September 2023 data breach, and pulled down four years of business guidance. While some of the guidance has since reappeared on the website, several blogs advising businesses how to better protect their customers’ data from breaches are still missing. Earlier this week, President Trump attempted to illegally fire Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya from the independent consumer agency – hamstringing the agency from continuing their critical work.
These actions by the FTC’s new leadership make it clear that they are prioritizing partisan games over their crucial role in protecting Americans’ sensitive personal data. The current FTC is signaling alignment with Big Tech and giant corporations , the mega-donors that cozied up behind President Trump at the inauguration, not the consumers or small businesses they are obligated to protect.
“Consumers are constantly being tracked, scored, screened, and manipulated in our current unfair marketplace, and the FTC is supposed to be there to protect our privacy and pocketbooks” said Ben Winters, Director of AI & Privacy for Consumer Federation of America. “Instead of continuing the work protecting consumers’ privacy, the FTC is playing partisan games, and American consumers are paying the price.”
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About Consumer Federation of America
Consumer Federation of America is an association of non-profit consumer organizations that was established in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy, and education.
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