EPIC Encourages NTIA to Maintain Focus on Commercial Data Harms

EPIC submitted comments yesterday in response to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)’s Request for Comment on Privacy, Equity and Civil Rights, encouraging NTIA to maintain its focus on harmful commercial data practices that disproportionately impact marginalized and historically excluded communities. EPIC urged NTIA to back robust oversight mechanisms and data minimization standards rather than an outdated self-regulatory model that fails to prevent consumer harms. Specifically, EPIC recommended algorithmic transparency requirements and mandatory risk and impact assessments because the “onus to avoid harms cannot rest on consumers.”

EPIC has long advocated for enhanced consumer privacy and data protection safeguards, including in its extensive comment in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Commercial Surveillance and Data Security.