Federal Trade Commission Initiates Privacy Rulemaking to Curb Commercial Surveillance

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In a long-anticipated action, the Democratic-led Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 on a party-line vote to issue an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which seeks to limit “commercial surveillance.” The FTC asks if new rules are needed to protect against the “business of collecting, analyzing, and profiting from information about people.” Specifically, the Commission seeks comment regarding how businesses (1) collect, aggregate, protect, use, analyze, and retain consumer data, as well as (2) transfer, share, sell, or otherwise monetize that data in ways that are unfair or deceptive.