Looking back at privacy in 2016, and on to the future

Protecting consumers’ privacy and personal data has long been a priority at the Federal Trade Commission. Over the years, we’ve helped millions of identity theft victims recover from that crime. We created the National Do Not Call Registry to limit unwanted telemarketing, and we continue to fight illegal robocalls. And we’ve brought more than sixty cases against companies that didn’t take reasonable steps to protect people’s data. But we’re not living in the past. Among our recent cases: a settlement with Ashley Madison over the company’s lax data security and misleading claims; our first case against an education lead generator for misleading people about how their information would be used; and a case against a company that marketed internet routers with serious security flaws. On Wednesday, January 25, at 3 p.m. EST, we’ll be participating in a Data Privacy Day Twitter chat for businesses sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance.