Recommendations Regarding Data Brokers
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Regarding data brokers, the FTC is
following through with a recommendation it made in December 2010 to give
consumers access to the information that is being collected. The commission
also wants data brokers to create a Website where the data is centralized, and
consumers could find out what options they have regarding controlling the use
of that data.
For the agency itself, the
commissioners laid out several areas that they will focus on over the next
year, including Do Not Track efforts. Companies already have made good efforts
in this area, they said, as have such bodies as the Digital Advertising
Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium.
In the mobile space, the FTC wants
any companies offering mobile services to improve privacy protections,
including making privacy disclosures shorter and more effective for consumers
who now have to deal with lengthy, small-type disclosures on their small
screens.
The commissioners plan to push data
brokers on the idea of the centralized Website for personal information thats
been collected, and will work with large platform providerssuch as Internet
service providers, social media companies, operating system creators and
browser developersto develop policies around comprehensive tracking. The FTC
also will work with the Department of Commerce and players in the tech industry
to develop industry-specific codes of conduct. As a sort of carrot-and-stick
approach, the FTC suggested that a companys adherence to the codes could help
it if it gets in trouble with the FTC. Those companies that sign on to the
codes but violate them could face FTC legal action.
The Consumer Watchdog consumer
advocacy organization applauded the FTCs efforts behind Do Not Track, as well
as the commissions efforts to rein in data brokers.
Data brokers buy, compile and sell
a wealth of highly personal information about you, but theres no way to find
out what they have or if its correct, John Simpson, director of Consumer
Watchdogs Privacy Project, said in a statement. Thats why the FTCs call for
legislation in this area is so important.
