On February 10, 2021, Acting FTC Chairwoman Slaughter delivered her keynote address "Protecting Consumer Privacy" at the Future of Privacy Forum. Chairwoman Slaughter emphasized the importance of transparent notice to consumer surrounding privacy practices, noting that it allows consumers the "dignity of knowing what is happening."
Chairwoman Slaughter outlined the following areas of focus for FTC enforcement in 2021:
- Protecting privacy during the pandemic, especially in the ed-tech world, where Slaughter emphasized the importance of children's privacy, and health applications , including tele-health and contact tracing apps, where she discussed the importance of application of the Health Breach Notification Rule to FTC enforcement actions;
- Conducting a follow up study on broad band service providers' privacy practices, continuing the work the FTC began in 2019; and
- Racial Equity, and the targeting of vulnerable populations by digital services, facial recognition technologies, location data, and algorithmic discrimination.
Chairwoman Slaughter also noted the importance of the FTC pursuing all methods of relief at its disposal in its enforcement actions, including disgorgement of not only monetary gains, but other benefits (like algorithms developed) from "ill gotten data."
Read Chairwoman Slaughter's full remarks here: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_statements/1587283/fpf_opening_remarks_210_.pdf
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