The Federal Trade Commission has the longest expertise with internet privacy. In early 2017, Congress rolled back yet-to-be-implemented online privacy rules imposed by the Federal Communications Commission that, while good intentioned, placed special privacy requirements on ISPs for accessing the same online data as companies like Google and Amazon. While the actions by Congress to repeal the FCC’s rules were controversial in some quarters, the move simply ensured the rules governing privacy across the internet remained under the FTC’s evenhanded and flexible approach — the same approach that has helped the internet flourish for the past two decades.
IIA Honorary Chairman Rick Boucher breaks down how regulators can best ensure consumer privacy.