Privacy Pros See States Filling Likely FTC Enforcement Void Under Trump
States may take the lead on enforcement during the second Trump administration, privacy professionals said during a panel Wednesday at Privado’s Bridge Summit. Regulators, so far, seem most focused on protecting location, health and kids’ data, as well as overseeing data broker registrations, they added.
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“There’s a little less risk from the FTC” and “higher risk from the state regulators who are going to look to step in where the FTC may be stepping back,” said Andrea Wheeler, Quantcast senior privacy operations manager.
“I completely agree,” said Rowena Lam, senior director-privacy at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Tech Lab. “Folks should not take their foot off the gas pedal … because I think we’re going to see state regulators … come in.”
Privacy attorney Daniel Goldberg of Frankfurt Kurnit is unsure what role the federal government will play. “Talk with me in a month, and I’ll have a little bit more [of an] idea, or maybe it’ll be even more uncertain.”
However, Goldberg warned businesses not to presume that a state that hasn’t enforced privacy will continue to lie low. “What we've seen in enforcement previously is not indicative of what is brewing and what is yet to come.”