U.S. Privacy and Data Protection | Insights | Jan. 2024 (Federal Law)

With the start of the new year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been active in ongoing privacy issues. Below outlines some key issues being considered by the FTC.

Participation in Global CAPE

The FTC announced it will participate in an international (non-binding) multilateral arrangement, called the Global Cooperation Arrangement for Privacy Enforcement (Global CAPE). Global CAPE will allow the FTC to cooperate and share information with international privacy authorities, with a goal of keeping pace with the increasingly global nature of commerce.

For context, as outlined in the FTC’s press release, “Global CAPE was created to supplement the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross-border Privacy Rules (APEC CBPR), which also facilitates cooperation and assistance in privacy and data security investigations among APEC’s Asian Pacific countries.” The new arrangement allows for participation by other countries.

Increased Review of AI

The FTC also hosted a tech summit focused on artificial intelligence. There were several notable speakers, including FTC Chair Lina Khan, who said the agency is looking into AI deals among key industry players that are developing and using AI technology.

The AI tech summit was around the same time of the FTC’s announcement of issuing orders (under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act) to Big Tech companies (Alphabet, Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Anthropic PBC, Microsoft Corp., and OpenAI, Inc.), requiring them to provide information involving generative AI companies and major cloud service providers. This is part of the FTC’s attempts to gain a deeper understanding of trends and business practices in this area.

Consideration of COPPA (Advertising to Children) and Selling Location Data

Further, the FTC has been requesting comments on proposed revisions to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and it is reviewing mechanisms for parental consent. Not surprisingly, this signals increased scrutiny on websites and apps targeting children.

In addition, the FTC has issued press releases relating to several data privacy and security cases, including a post about an FTC order banning a company from selling precise consumer location data and another post prohibiting a data broker from selling sensitive location data.

Conclusion

Given the FTC’s enforcement authority, from injunctions to obtaining consumer redress and steep monetary civil penalties, the FTC’s activities signal scrutiny in the areas of data privacy and data protection, and especially in the issues addressed above.

Kronenberger Rosenfeld, LLP regularly advises clients regarding FTC matters, advertising, and privacy compliance. Contact our firm using our online case submission form here.

To learn about the State Privacy and Data Protection January 2024 updates, click here.