FTC Launches Data-Privacy Proposal for 'Surveillance' Crackdown (bloomberglaw.com) 9
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public feedback on a proposed rulemaking to limit what it's dubbed "commerical surveillance" by businesses that sell or share information collected about people. From a report: The advance notice, announced Thursday, would protect the personal data companies such as Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. collect about consumers.
make it opt in and explicitly don't to begin with (Score:4, Insightful)
All companies from larger retailers to your corner pizza delivery shop are tracking you. If you use a credit or debit card the merchant services associated with clearing that transaction have your fingerprint.
Even state and local governments are selling your data unapologetically. Are you a day late paying your property taxes? There's a company that tracks how much you owe on that and if you're up to date, they then sell it to mortgage brokers and banks.
Don't even get started when it comes to the insurance industry, they are some of the worst purveyors of selling data.
Shit, even the damn barber wants to track me by my phone number for a haircut!
Why do we allow this to happen?
I doubt however that the gov't will actually do anything about it because it represents 100s of thousands of jobs and millions in taxable revenue.
Won't change anything. (Score:2)
Without real penalties (that really hurt the companies or jail time for execs, rather than the slaps on the write that the FTC hands out) companies will continue to skirt any requirements and pay fines as a cost of doing business. The FTC has acted as a feckless lapdog for too many decades and it's disgusting.
Fine Line (Score:5, Interesting)
It's tricky, as the government *wants* these companies to collect as much information as they possibly can about people so the government can use it, but they don't want the companies themselves to use it.
If they were really interested in privacy they'd ban data collection and retention all together. They aren't.
Re: (Score:3)
It's tricky, as the government *wants* these companies to collect as much information as they possibly can about people so the government can use it..
Not really. Certain government departments that would make use of the info want that, and possibly some leaders persuaded by those departments may be sympathetic to their case.
Re: (Score:2)
They don't care if the companies use it, but they want to appear to care, because we care. All they care about is whether they can collect it, which is why they haven't made it illegal to collect. It's gonna look pretty funny if they prohibit corporations from collecting it but not themselves, and also they won't be able to collect your PII from corporations if they aren't collecting it.
Don't expect meaningful privacy legislation in the USA.
Sharing, not collecting (Score:2)
Read carefully. The government still wants the data collected. It (half-heartedly) wants to stop the data being shared with others. Naturally, sharing with any government agency is exempt and required, personal effects notwithstanding.
You know, third-party doctrine, abortions, terrorists, kiddie-porn, money laundering, etc., etc...
"protect the personal data"? (Score:4, Insightful)
How about simply not collecting the data in the first place? Any rules enacted by the FTC regarding data that has been already collected are meaningless. First, the companies have to be caught using the data in an illegal manner. What percentage of illegal use will be discovered? That's probably a very small number.
Second, the violators have to a) actually be prosecuted and b) suffer a severe enough penalty to strongly discourage repeat offenses. Yeah, I'm sure both of those criteria will be consistently applied. Not.
Third, many of the negative consequences of misuse of personal data - never mind the consequences of data that's stolen by criminals - are damaging and life-altering beyond the capability of companies and the government to adequately address, even if they felt sufficiently motivated to try. That's seldom or never the case.
It would be great if the FTC had the integrity to simply ban the collection of personal data beyond that strictly necessary for the transactions immediately at hand, and the guts to put C-levels in jail and bankrupt companies over the violations. That's never going to happen, but it's nice to dream.
Ho hum (Score:2)
What has the FTC ever done that has been effective? They are victims of regulatory capture and this will come to nothing.