FTC Tackles Online Privacy

The Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday (Dec. 8) the appointment of an Internet privacy and security expert as its new chief technologist.

The Wall Street Journal reported Lorrie Cranor will take on the role starting in January 2016. Cranor currently serves as the director of the Carnegie Mellon CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory and sits on the board of directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online privacy advocacy group.

Cranor will replace Ashkan Soltani, who has been the FTC’s Chief Technologist since October 2014.

“Technology is playing an ever more important role in consumers’ lives, whether through mobile devices, personal fitness trackers, or the increasing array of Internet-connected devices we find in homes and elsewhere,” FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a statement Friday, adding that Cranor will be responsible for “helping guide the many areas of FTC work involving new technologies and platforms.”

While the agency has no direct authority to regulate online privacy, the FTC is still mandated to prevent deceptive and unfair practices, which it does by bringing legal action against businesses accused of violating consumer privacy laws.

Earlier this year, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, ruled that the FTC could proceed with its standing lawsuit against Wyndham Worldwide, alleging that the hotel chain was and remains responsible for three data breaches that took place between 2008 and 2010.

In a release following the court’s ruling, Ramirez stated that the result “reaffirms the FTC’s authority to hold companies accountable for failing to safeguard consumer data. It is not only appropriate, but critical,” continued the chairwoman, “that the FTC has the ability to take action on behalf of consumers when companies fail to take reasonable steps to secure sensitive consumer information.”