Claire Park

The Federal Trade Commission’s $5 billion settlement with Facebook over the company’s deceptive privacy practices made a big splash, raising questions about the role the FTC should play in enforcing US privacy laws. While some observers criticized the FTC for not going far enough, others felt the record fine demonstrated the FTC’s willingness to set new precedents for punitive actions—and its unique ability to serve as the cop on the beat. But that isn’t the end of the conversation.

In our increasingly digitized world, it is critical to protect individuals’ privacy. As policymakers consider passing meaningful privacy legislation, civil rights protections are a critical but mostly overlooked component. To have effective privacy legislation, we must ensure that companies’ data practices do not violate individuals’ civil rights—especially when it comes to marginalized communities.