The Federal Trade Commission is warning that it will go after corporations that make false claims about how they are protecting personal data of consumers.
FTC acting Associate Director Kristin Cohen said unprecedented privacy intrusions by companies collecting Americans’ data are no longer “the stuff of dystopian fiction.”
“Companies that make false claims about anonymization can expect to hear from the FTC,” Ms. Cohen wrote on the regulator’s blog this week. “The FTC cracks down on companies that misuse consumers’ data. As recent cases have shown, the FTC does not tolerate companies that over-collect, indefinitely retain, or misuse consumer data.”
Ms. Cohen cited the example of a 2021 settlement with Flo Health, a women’s period and fertility tracking app, which the FTC alleged shared users’ health data with third parties, including Facebook and Google, despite pledging to keep the information private. The FTC announced that settlement in January 2021 just before President Biden took office.
The agency did not identify specific targets of Ms. Cohen’s warning but listed sensitive categories of data subject to abuse, including location and health information. Ms. Cohen also noted that several devices are responsible for collecting such data, including smartphones, cars, wearable fitness trackers and internet browsers.
“The commission is committed to using the full scope of its legal authorities to protect consumers’ privacy,” Ms. Cohen wrote. “We will vigorously enforce...
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