Should there be binding rules for commercial monitoring and data security? The US economic authority FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is getting to the bottom of this question. Because only if there is a documented, significant need for regulation, the authority may issue corresponding regulations. As such, the FTC is now asking for guidance.
By commercial surveillance, the FTC understands the collection, analysis, and monetization of information about individuals. “Companies are now collecting personal data on a massive scale and in a staggering range of fields,” states FTC Chair Lina M. Khan, “The growing digitization of our economy – combined with business models that support the endless sipping of sensitive user data and the tremendous expansion of its… Reward usage – may have led to potentially unlawful practices.”
In addition, mass surveillance creates new risks through deception and manipulation, and the collected data could fall into the wrong hands due to insecure storage. As a result, the FTC is now calling on the public to submit comments on the harmful effects of commercial surveillance and whether the US needs new privacy and data security rules. To this day, the country does not have a general, nationwide data protection law – one of the reasons why there are so many legal uncertainties with intercontinental data transfers.
avoidance difficult
Only a fraction of the data collected is actively transmitted by consumers. Practically every internet use is monitored in the background, evaluated by algorithms and sold on opaque markets. The FTC is concerned that some surveillance-based systems may become addictive to children. In addition, evaluation algorithms work incorrectly, biased or imprecisely, which can lead to discrimination.
Avoiding surveillance is often difficult, especially since some companies make the use of their services dependent on surveillance. It is not uncommon for data protection regulations to be changed after the contract has been concluded. In addition, there are the widespread dark patterns that foist consent on users.
Everyone now has until mid-October to submit comments. The link for this will soon be published on this website. As a topic guide, the FTC has published 94 questions. On September 8, the agency is hosting an online discussion event on commercial surveillance and data security.
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