Tag Archives: Jon Leibowitz

FTC to Focus on Self-Regulation by Behavioral Advertising Industry

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On October 19, 2010, Federal Trade Commissioner Julie Brill indicated that the FTC’s forthcoming behavioral advertising report will recommend a self-regulatory framework, as opposed to new legislation, to help protect consumers’ privacy.  Mediapost.com reported that Ms. Brill offered suggestions on improving privacy practices with respect to Internet advertising, such as by providing “consistent and simplified notice about online tracking and ad-serving,” and that such notice should focus more on the unexpected or non-obvious uses of data (such as an e-commerce company’s transfer of consumers’ addresses to shipping companies). Continue reading…

Tags: Behavioral Advertising, Consumer Protection, David Vladeck, Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, Julie Brill, Online Privacy

Global Privacy Enforcement Authorities Launch Cooperative Network and Website

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

The United States Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") recently joined forces with privacy authorities from eleven other countries to launch the Global Privacy Enforcement Network ("GPEN"), which aims to promote cross-border information sharing and enforcement of privacy laws.  On September 21, 2010, GPEN unveiled its new website, www.privacyenforcement.net, designed to educate the public about the network.  The GPEN website, which is supported by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development ("OECD"), provides guidelines and application instructions for government agencies interested in participating in GPEN.  It also sets forth GPEN’s action plan and mission of “sharing information about privacy enforcement issues, trends and experiences; participating in relevant training; cooperating on outreach activities; engaging in dialogue with relevant private sector organizations on privacy enforcement and outreach issues; and facilitating effective cross-border privacy enforcement in specific matters by creating a contact list of privacy enforcement authorities interested in bilateral cooperation in cross-border investigations and enforcement matters.” 

In his remarks about the network, which was officially launched in March, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz stated that “to protect consumers’ privacy in today’s global economy, all of us who work in law enforcement around the world need to cooperate with each other.  We at the FTC are looking forward to working closely with our colleagues overseas to make this happen.”

Tags: Consumer Protection, Enforcement, European Union, Federal Trade Commission, Global Privacy Enforcement Network, International, Jon Leibowitz, OECD

FTC Chairman Considers Do Not Track Registry

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

In the latest chapter of the Federal Trade Commission’s ongoing efforts to promote consumer privacy with respect to online behavioral advertising, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz has reportedly suggested that the FTC may propose a Do Not Track Registry.  The registry would be similar to the FTC’s popular Do Not Call Registry, which allows consumers to opt-out of many types of telemarketing calls, but registration on the Do Not Track Registry would not stop online advertisements.  Instead, it would prevent those advertisements from being targeted to users based on their prior online activity.  Mr. Leibowitz’s remarks came during a hearing on Consumer Online Privacy held yesterday by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.  Current industry self-regulatory initiatives for providing consumers with choice regarding behavioral advertising include the Network Advertising Initiative’s Opt-Out Tool, which has been criticized for relying on opt-out cookies that consumers may accidentally delete, and a related beta Firefox browser extension designed to remember consumers’ opt-out preferences even after cookies are deleted.

Tags: Behavioral Advertising, Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, Marketing, Online Privacy, U.S. Federal Law

Kerry Signals Senate Support for Online Privacy Legislation

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On July 27, 2010, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) announced his intention to introduce an online privacy bill to regulate the collection and use of consumer data.  “Our counterparts in the House have introduced legislation and I intend to work with Senator Pryor and others to do the same on this side with the goal of passing legislation early in the next Congress,” Kerry said in a prepared statement.  Senator Kerry is the Chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.  He indicated that his bill would go beyond the regulation of targeted advertising.  “Protecting the privacy of consumers online involves much more than the targeted advertising to which they are subjected,” Senator Kerry said. “Such advertising is just one result of the information that is routinely collected about us online.”

As we reported last week, Representative Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) introduced a bill regarding online data collection practices, which itself followed a similar bill proposed in May by Congressmen Boucher (D-VA) and Stearns (R-FL).  Also on Tuesday, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz testified before the U.S. Senate about FTC efforts to protect consumer privacy.

Tags: Behavioral Advertising, Bobby Rush, Cliff Stearns, Consumer Protection, Enforcement, Federal Trade Commission, John Kerry, Jon Leibowitz, Legislation, Marketing, Online Privacy, Rick Boucher, U.S. Federal Law

FTC Investigating Privacy Risks to Data Stored on Digital Copiers

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz recently sent a letter to Congressman Edward Markey, Co-Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, announcing that the FTC will address the privacy risks associated with the use of digital copiers.  Congressman Markey had urged the FTC to investigate this issue after a CBS News exposé showed that almost every digital copier produced since 2002 stores on its hard drive images of documents that are “scanned, copied or emailed by the machine” – including documents with sensitive personal information.

Continue reading…

Tags: Federal Trade Commission, Health Privacy, Identity Theft, Information Security, Jon Leibowitz, Security Breach

FTC’s New Commissioners Create a Democratic Majority

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

Julie Brill and Edith Ramirez took their oaths of office on April 5 and 6, 2010, completing the Federal Trade Commission’s roster of five commissioners and facilitating the Commission’s new tougher stance on privacy.  As we previously reported, Ms. Brill and Ms. Ramirez were confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 3, 2010.  There are now three Democrats and two Republicans on the Commission.

Last year, when the Commission was comprised of one Democrat, two Republicans, an independent and a vacant seat, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz announced an aggressive agenda for the Commission, including a “privacy re-think.”  The new Democratic majority will make it easier to advance that agenda through recommendations to Congress, responses to market requests for greater self regulation and the approach taken with respect to enforcement cases.

Continue reading…

Tags: Consumer Protection, Edith Ramirez, Events, Federal Trade Commission, General, Jon Leibowitz, Julie Brill

Federal Trade Commission: Is Privacy Moving to a Post-Disclosure Era?

Posted on January 12, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

In a discussion with The New York Times, Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chairman Jon Leibowitz, and chief of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, David Vladeck, indicated that Internet publishers and advertisers can expect the FTC to play a more active role in safeguarding consumer privacy.  Chairman Leibowitz highlighted that, in the past, the FTC’s approach to privacy has focused on consumer notice and consent, and whether consumers were harmed.  From the FTC’s perspective, however, the present model is problematic because companies have failed to provide consumers with meaningful notice that would allow them to make effective choices regarding their privacy.  This “advise-and-consent” model is broken, as it “depended on the fiction that people were meaningfully giving consent.”  In reality, few consumers take the time to inform themselves about the notices and choices outlined in privacy policies.

Continue reading…

Tags: David Vladeck, Enforcement, Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, Online Privacy, Privacy Policy

Senior Staff Changes at FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Increase Privacy Profile

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Hunton & Williams LLP

Senior staff changes at the Federal Trade Commission have enhanced privacy’s profile within the agency.  Jessica Rich is the new Deputy Director of Consumer Protection.  Ms. Rich has been the Acting Associate Director responsible for the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection following nearly a decade as Assistant Director for the Division.  Rich has long been seen as the FTC’s staff’s privacy thought leader.  The new Privacy Division Associate Director is Maneesha Mithal.  Ms. Mithal brings a strong international background to the position.  The new Assistant Director is Mark Eichorn, a long time attorney advisor to the Chairman Jon Leibowitz.  The Associate Director in charge of the Division of Financial Practices, Joel Winston, had led the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, and brings a great deal of privacy experience to the financial practices position. 

The FTC begins a major privacy initiative on Monday, December 7, when it will hold the first of three roundtables exploring future directions for privacy oversight.  The second roundtable will be in Berkeley on January 28, 2010 with the third in Washington the second half of March.

Tags: Consumer Protection, Events, Federal Trade Commission, General, Jessica Rich, Jon Leibowitz

Federal Trade Commission Issues Behavioral Advertising Report

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Hunton & Williams LLP

As part of its ongoing efforts to examine evolving internet marketing practices, earlier today the Federal Trade Commission released a report on self-regulation of online behavioral advertising.  This report analyzes the comments received from interested parties in response to proposed self-regulatory principles issued by the Commission in December 2007.  It covers a wide range of issues including the increasingly blurred line between personally identifiable information and non-personally identifiable information and the applicability of regulations to "first party" versus contextual advertising.
 
Links to the report and the concurring statements of Commissioners Harbour and Leibowitz, as well as FTC Congressional testimony on behavioral advertising, can be found here. 

Tags: Behavioral Advertising, Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, Marketing, Online Privacy, Pamela Jones Harbour, Personally Identifiable Information