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The Senate’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security convened this morning to hear the testimony of a Facebook whistleblower about Facebook’s harm and the need for regulation. Frances Haugen, a former Facebook project manager, has come forward to reveal that Facebook knew that its platforms were harmful, especially to young users. Haugen filed complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission and leaked documents to the Wall Street Journal which published a detailed investigation of Facebook. Today, Haugen testified that “Facebook has repeatedly misled the public about what its own research reveals about the safety of children, the efficacy of its artificial intelligence systems, and its role in spreading divisive and extreme messages.” She urged Congress to regulate Facebook, stating “there needs to be a dedicated oversight body” and “Facebook can change but it’s clearly not going to do so on its own.” EPIC advocates for the creation of a dedicated Data Protection Agency. EPIC has fought for transparency and accountability for Facebook's privacy abuses for over a decade, from filing the original FTC Complaint in 2009 that led to the FTC's 2012 Consent Order with the company, to moving to intervene in and filing an amicus brief challenging the FTC's 2019 settlement with Facebook.

EPIC has joined a coalition of consumer groups led by the National Consumer Law Center to urge the FCC to reject a proposal that would make it legal for callers to drop voicemails directly into people's phones without their consent. The groups explained that allowing such “ringless voicemail” would clog consumers’ voicemail boxes with spam, scams, and debt collection notices. More than 90,000 consumers signed a petition urging the FCC to reject the proposal, and thousands of others, including small businesses and medical professionals, have filed comments with the FCC registering their concern with the harms presented by ringless voicemail. EPIC routinely participates in regulatory and legislative processes concerning robocalls and files amicus briefs in robocall cases.

Last night, EPIC and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) urged the FCC to demand more robust and explicit commitments from voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service providers to protect American consumers from unwanted robocalls. Callers launching robocall campaigns often rely upon VoIP networks to do so. The advocacy groups’ comment to the FCC outlines a series of specific actions the Commission should require VoIP providers to take, including detecting and responding to indicators of suspicious activity on their networks, and increasing transparency to consumers of potential robocall threats. EPIC routinely participates in regulatory and legislative processes concerning robocalls and files amicus briefs in robocall cases.

Today, EPIC and a coalition of 44 consumer advocacy, civil rights, and media democracy groups urged the Federal Trade Commission to initiate a rulemaking to promote civil rights and protect against abusive data practices. “Companies use personal data to enable and even perpetuate discriminatory practices against people of color, women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, religious minorities, persons with disabilities, persons living on low income, immigrants and other marginalized groups,” the letter explains. The letter calls for a rulemaking that would address the collection, use, management, retention, and deletion of personal data. "This country faces a deepening crisis of data abuse and discrimination,” John Davisson, Senior Counsel at EPIC. “But the FTC has the power to set industry-wide rules that will rein in exploitative data practices and protect privacy and civil rights. We join the president and members of Congress in urging the FTC to use that power as soon as possible.” EPIC has frequently challenged the FTC over its failure to address consumer privacy harms, has filed a rulemaking petition with the FTC on commercial AI use, and has long advocated for the creation of a U.S. Data Protection Agency. EPIC also published a report on the FTC’s unused statutory authorities, What the FTC Could Be Doing (But Isn’t) to Protect Privacy, in June.