EPIC Sues FTC Over Online-Privacy Records

Communications Today, Oct 13, 1999

The Electronic Privacy Information Center yesterday sued the Federal Trade Commission in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to pry loose FTC records of consumer privacy complaints.

The issue is important for e-commerce, as the FTC spearheads the government's efforts to decide whether the industry is doing enough to protect privacy. The FTC's recent report to Congress on the issue, "Self-regulation and Privacy Online," called for a hands-off regulatory posture while citing some concerns about Web site and ecommerce privacy.

Marc Rotenberg, EPIC's director, on July 27 told the Senate Communications Subcommittee that the FTC report was "one of the oddest reports on privacy ever produced by a government agency." The report didn't discuss specific privacy threats or report on complaints from consumers, and it leaned heavily on the "Georgetown Internet Privacy Policy Survey," an industry-sponsored study, Rotenberg said.

EPIC argues that the FTC's records may show it does little. "If the FTC has no effective means to handle these complaints or to respond to public concerns, then more aggressive steps should be taken," he said.