In addition to an increase in privacy laws, 2025 is expected to bring an escalation of privacy and data protection claims under old laws, said International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) members on a webinar Wednesday.
FTC Privacy Enforcement
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the primary enforcer of privacy laws in the U.S., using consent decrees, lawsuits and rulemaking to address unfair or deceptive data practices. The agency’s actions influence how companies design privacy programs, handle consumer data and respond to complaints. This page highlights major cases, policy updates, and enforcement patterns at the FTC that shape the U.S. privacy landscape.
Privacy Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The FTC’s new requirement that companies obtain separate parental consent when collecting children’s data for nonessential business purposes is a key change compliance professionals should fully understand, attorneys said Tuesday.
The FTC released some initial insights from the surveillance pricing study, with findings that indicated intermediaries have access to a large amount of data types and sources, as well as tools that can influence prices that consumers see, said the commission in a blog Friday.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Enforce, a unit of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, filed a complaint Thursday at the FTC alleging that Google sends huge quantities of Americans’ sensitive data to China and other foreign adversaries, EPIC announced in a news release.
The early weeks of January have brought a blizzard of state bills focused on protecting kids online, including requiring age verification on porn and social media websites. Some industry groups have long raised privacy concerns with such mandates, arguing they could require that users submit sensitive information confirming their age or parental status to consent to a child’s access.
The FTC trumpeted two big enforcement actions as part of a flurry of announcements in the days before Monday's inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. The FTC on Thursday proposed a nonmonetary settlement with GM and OnStar over allegations the companies collected and sold consumers’ location data without proper consent. The commission on Friday announced a settlement of $20 million with the maker of the videogame Genshin Impact over allegations of violating a child privacy law. The FTC also revealed a long-awaited update to children’s online privacy rules Thursday (see 2501160068).
The FTC is finalizing changes to its children’s online privacy regulations “to set new requirements around the collection, use and disclosure of children’s personal information and give parents new tools and protections to help them control what data is provided to third parties about their children,” it said in a Thursday news release.
The FTC on Thursday announced its long-awaited update to children’s online privacy rules, which includes new opt-in consent requirements and data retention limits.
The FTC will require GoDaddy to implement a robust information security program after the agency alleged that the website-hosting company failed to secure itself against potentially harmful attacks, the FTC announced Wednesday.