EPIC - FTC To Explore "Big Data" and Discrimination

The Federal Trade Commission will host a workshop entitled "Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?" The FTC will explore the effects of "big data" analytics on low-income and other underserved communities. Several members of the EPIC Advisory Board will be participating. Earlier this year, the FTC published a report on data brokers, warning that, "collecting and storing large amounts of data not only increases the risk of a data breach or other unauthorized access but also increases the potential harm that could be caused." The White House also convened a task force and published a report on "big data" this year. At EPIC's urging, the White House included public participation in the review process. EPIC submitted extensive comments, warning about the enormous risk to Americans of current "big data" practices but also made clear that problems are not new, citing the Privacy Act of 1974. In 2009, EPIC testified in support of new legislation to regulate the data broker industry. For more information, see EPIC: Big Data and the Future of Privacy, and EPIC: FTC.