Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Public comments: WPF urges FTC to focus on providing statistical parity for consumers (Big Data workshop)

WPF urges FTC to focus on consumers’  ability to control their digital exhaust and statistical parity for big data era At the FTC workshop on Big Data September 15, Big Data: Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?, panelists including the World Privacy Forum discussed legal and ethical frameworks that are applicable to large datasets and issues

FTC announces final agenda and panelist roster for Big Data workshop

The Federal Trade Commission has announced its panelist roster and final agenda for its upcoming workshop, “Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?.”  The workshop is going to be an important and thoughtful discussion about big data and privacy issues, and will be taking place on Sept. 15 in Washington, D.C.  The World Privacy

FTC’s Data Broker Report Brings New Facts to Light about how Consumer Data is Captured and Sold

Forget worrying about loyalty cards or programs: it’s the everyday purchases you make tied to your name with a debit or credit card that can land you on data brokers’ lists. That is one of the many facts that the new FTC report on data brokers sets forth. The report offers a high-level analysis with establishing new fact patterns about the industry based on the Commission’s investigation of nine major data brokers. Overall, we find things to like in the report, but we wish the FTC had gone further in some areas. Here are some of the high points that stood out to us.

Snapchat Settles FTC Charges; FTC says Snapchat transmitted user location and collected address books without notice or consent

Mobile messaging app Snapchat, which promised its users ephemeral, disappearing picture and video messages, has settled FTC charges that pics and videos sent through its app weren’t as ephemeral as the company promised. According to the FTC, Snapchat transmitted users’ location data, and collected users’ address books without notice or consent. Also, the snaps weren’t

Thousands of complaints about kids’ expensive bites of Apple’s “in-app purchases” draw attention from the FTC

It sounds so innocent: the Tap Pet Hotel app for kids. But one mother complained to the FTC that her child tapped up $2,600 of in-app purchases up while using the app. Other parents complained about unauthorized purchases by children of up to $500 for apps like Dragon Story and Tiny Zoo Friends. These, and