EPIC Urges FTC to Prioritize Privacy in 5-Year Strategic Plan

In comments to the Federal Trade Commission, EPIC urged the agency to include specific goals for privacy enforcement in its five year Draft Strategic Plan. EPIC argued that setting specific goals for privacy enforcement would help protect individuals from data exploitation, biased and unfair algorithmic decision-making, online scams, and data breaches. Prioritizing privacy would also serve the FTC’s renewed goal of addressing racial equity as poor and minority communities are disproportionately harmed by unfair and deceptive practices online.

The comments also highlighted work EPIC has done to provide the FTC with tools and guidance for privacy enforcement. In March, EPIC and a coalition of groups launched a campaign to Ban Surveillance Advertising. This June, EPIC published a report on the Commission’s unused and underused statutory authorities for privacy enforcement. In August, EPIC led a coalition urging the FTC to address address exploitative commercial data practices. This October, EPIC and a coalition urged the Commission to protect civil rights online through a new privacy rulemaking.