EPIC Submits Comments to FTC Urging the Agency to Prioritize Privacy in Potential Antitrust Guidelines

On Thursday, EPIC submitted comments to the FTC in response to the agency’s joint public inquiry with the DOJ Antitrust Division, which sought guidance on antitrust concerns raised by collaboration among competitors.  

EPIC encouraged the agencies to prioritize data privacy, implement data minimization standards, provide robust protections against surveillance-driven personalized pricing, and underscore the crucial role of privacy in competition in any forthcoming guidance. 

Data is a large part of companies’ collaborations and joint ventures, but companies often misuse and fail to protect consumers’ personal data, EPIC noted.  

As such, portability, interoperability, and data transfers implicated by competitor collaborations are only tolerable if paired with strict data minimization standards, strong data security protocols, secondary use restrictions, limits on third party access, and data retention rules, the comments argued. 

“Privacy, especially in the age of big data, plays a vital role in business collaboration and competition,” the filing read. “Any guidance issued should reflect that.” 

EPIC has long urged federal agencies to prioritize data privacy and incorporate strong data minimization standards in their enforcement actions and guidance to best protect consumers.