FTC Chairman Simons: We Need Rulemaking Authority

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons told the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee at an FTC oversight hearing that the FTC needs three things to protect consumer privacy: 1) rulemaking authority; 2) civil penalty authority—currently it can only try and make consumers whole for losses, not penalize the conduct responsible; and 3) jurisdiction over nonprofits and common carriers. Currently, the FTC has to sue or settle with alleged violators, then monitor enforcement of the settlements it secures. Chairman Simons also said Congress needed to come up with legislation on collection, use and sharing of data that still fosters competition and innovation, legislation that the FTC would enforce.

Also at the hearing, subcommittee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS) opened by saying he wanted an update on its investigation of Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica info sharing issue, including when that investigation might wrap up and what penalties the social media giant might face. Chairman Moran has been working with Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) on a bipartisan privacy bill to give the FTC more teeth and he said at the hearing he hoped that would be getting traction soon. Ranking Member Blumenthal also said "Big Tech" may no longer be entitled to be as big as it is, he added ominously, pointing out that misuse of market power can violate antitrust laws. He said Facebook and Google can't be allowed to police themselves, and that it was time to end "this cycle of impugnity." He said, at a minimum, privacy legislation should be as tough as California's privacy law and Europe's privacy framework.