Advertisers Urge FTC to Create Data Protection Bureau
The FTC should create a data protection bureau, the advertising industry asked in a final round of comments on policy hearings. Broadband, retail and financial groups backed a federal, pre-emptive privacy standard. A Google-linked researcher said there’s no economic evidence to suggest online platforms need access to large amounts of data to compete “effectively.”
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The commission needs more resources, authority and a new data protection bureau, said the Association of National Advertisers in docket 2019-0032. That mirrored comments from Privacy for America, of which ANA is a member. The U.S. needs federal, pre-emptive legislation, “as conflicting state laws across the nation would seriously burden both consumers and industry alike,” ANA said.
Privacy for America supports banning certain data practices: using data to determine eligibility for credit, insurance and other needs; using data to discriminate based on race, religion or other aspects of identity; and using data to commit crimes like fraud and stalking. The group envisions barriers for collecting sensitive data tied to medical, financial and other types of information; more consumer control over targeted ads; and a third-party certification process for data-sharing agreements.
The agency should lead efforts to adopt a federal privacy standard enforced by the FTC, said NCTA. “Provide meaningful control to consumers, treat all businesses consistently, [and] apply online and offline.” NCTA is against including a private right of action: “Lawsuits could distort and displace the primacy of the Commission’s role as lead privacy agency, as well as its enforcement priorities.” Any targeted rulemaking authority granted should “emphasize flexible, outcome-based approaches that refrain from dictating specific measures, mechanisms, or technologies for compliance,” NCTA said.
Retailers raised concerns about market power, singling out telecom platforms and ISPs. Retailers depend on their services to connect with consumers online, said the Retail Industry Leaders Association. The concern is retailers becoming the target of “rent-seeking” ISPs, which control the “indispensable flow of information to and from consumers,” said RILA. Be vigilant policing ISP abuse of “information bottlenecks in ways that either impose excessive fees on users, or seek to skew the flow of information in potentially self-serving ways,” asked the association.
A patchwork of inconsistent state laws “resulted in uneven consumer protection, as well as significantly higher compliance costs for financial institutions,” said the American Financial Services Association. Congress should adopt a national privacy standard compelling “compliance by all entities that collect sensitive consumer information,” AFSA said. “The standard should be enforced on a sliding scale, similar to Gramm-Leach-Bliley standards, so that the size and complexity of businesses are taken into account.”
Network effects and data collection don’t prevent search service competition, said Compass Lexecon Executive Vice President Andres Lerner, representing Google. He cited his report to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, on whether Google and Facebook are insulated from competition. Search services aren’t typically “characterized by either same-side or cross-side network effects,” he said. He concluded it’s unnecessary for new entrants and expanding rivals to have access to large amounts of data to compete “effectively.”