Cambridge Analytica Facebook FTC Privacy Shield
FTC Announces Another Privacy Settlement, But Again Imposes No Penalties
The FTC announced today that it settled charges with ReadyTech, a California company, for misrepresenting compliance with Privacy Shield, a self-certification arrangement that allows US companies to obtain the personal data of Europeans. The FTC settlement prohibits the company from making future misrepresentations about Privacy Shield compliance, but imposes no penalties and provides no remedy to European consumers whose personal data was wrongfully obtained. Last year, the FTC settled charges with three companies that misrepresented their participation in Privacy Shield, but similarly failed to impose penalties. The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee ("LIBE") recently passed a resolution stating that Privacy Shield does not protect European consumers, and called for its suspension if the U.S. does not comply by September 1, 2018. LIBE specifically called attention to the Cambridge Analytica breach of 87 million Facebook users. In March, EPIC told the FTC that the Cambridge Analytica breach could have been prevented if the FTC had enforced its 2011 Consent Order with Facebook.
July 2, 2018| Share:
