Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission will begin its Hearings Initiative with two full-day sessions, co-sponsored with and held at the Georgetown University Law Center, on Sept 13 and 14, 2018. The Georgetown event will be the first in a series of hearings that will examine whether broad-based changes in the economy, evolving business practices, new technologies, or international developments might require adjustments to competition and consumer protection enforcement priorities of the Commission.

I want today to register my concern that laws and regulations intended to promote privacy may build protective moats around large companies (some of which already possess significant amounts of data about people) by making it more difficult for smaller companies to grow, for new companies to enter the market, and for innovation to occur—and insist that competition be part of our conversation about privacy. If our concern is warranted, the questions for proponents of new privacy rules then must include: Are we willing to allow a reduction in competition or innovation?

In a comment to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) about potential safety issues associated with Internet-connected consumer products, staff of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) warned that poorly secured Internet of Things (IoT) devices could pose a consumer safety hazard and outlined ways to mitigate such risks. BCP Staff submitted a response to the CPSC as part of the agency’s Request for Comments on potential safety issues and hazards associated with Internet-connected consumer products.