The Federal Trade Commission says it would consider creating three new units to pursue privacy enforcement investigations if Congress would increase its full-time employee headcount. But there is significant disagreement among FTC commissioners about how any additional resources should be deployed.
In a report for Congress published June 19, the FTC said with more resources it could create a unit to focus on new investigations into violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The unit would also investigate potential violations with new technologies like the “Internet of Things, facial recognition, biometrics, and artificial intelligence, as well as stalking apps, revenge pornography, and other technologies that have the potential to result in substantial consumer harm,” the report said.
