Federal Trade Commission Privacy Law and Policy (Introduction and Excerpt)

Abstract

Federal Trade Commission Privacy Law and Policy is an in-depth history of the FTC’s 100-year-long consumer protection efforts. It explains how decades of false advertising enforcement informs today’s privacy efforts. It contains practical advice for lawyers practicing before the agency, strategy for advocates, and insight for policymakers on the challenge of addressing unfair and deceptive trade practices. Most importantly, the book provides context for the agency’s powers and procedure.

The FTC’s regulation of technology and privacy is not new. The FTC’s first reported case concerned a company that treated cotton so that it could be passed off as silk. Its first privacy case dealt with an early kind of information broker that tricked people into revealing personal information so that debt collectors could locate them. Reviewing the history of these cases and the rationales that gave rise to the FTC helps us understand broader policy problems in consumer protection.

Keywords: history, unfair competition, kidvid, section 5, online privacy, children's privacy, information security, spam, telemarketing, SMS, malware, GLBA, FCRA, FDCPA, Safe Harbor, public choice, rational choice theory

JEL Classification: 033, L5, K2