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The DL: Under the leadership of Andrew Ferguson, chairman of Federal Trade Commission, the agency could shift its focus from broad regulatory rule-making to targeted enforcement actions. Some expect his approach could prioritize addressing deceptive practices, fraud, consumer redress and select privacy concerns, signaling a recalibration of FTC priorities. Ferguson also voted against the FTC’s new Negative Option Rule, also known as “click-to-cancel,” which had been lobbied against by advertising and cable industry trade organizations including the IAB. The FTC could continue cracking down on businesses profiting from personal data without user consent. While targeted advertising itself might not be an issue, unregulated data collection, aggregation and sale – particularly regarding sensitive location data – will remain under scrutiny. This signals a heightened focus on ensuring data privacy from the outset. Transparency in data collection and use will remain a focal point — for both AI and data privacy. Given the FTC’s continued focus on data brokers, ad tech firms should scrutinize their data partnerships, ensuring that all collected and shared data comply with privacy laws and user consent requirements. With heightened scrutiny on data collection, businesses should proactively build privacy by design into their operations. This includes stronger consent mechanisms, clear opt-out options and responsible data governance.
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