Thursday, March 28, 2024
Lawyers Run The WorldFTC Hints at New Data Compliance Rules

FTC Hints at New Data Compliance Rules

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Over the past year there have been a large number of major data security breaches.  Some of them against private companies like Ashley Madison, some against financial institutions and even some against government agencies like the IRS.   In addition to these major hacks there have been thousands of smaller companies and individuals that also had their data compromised.

The FTC has been taking on the role of taking legal action against many of the companies that were hacked.  They say that it is their responsibility because of the fact that when those companies get hacked, the consumers are the ones that end up having their personal data lost.

This can lead to people having their identities stolen and a lot of other problems.  The FTC so far seems to be falling on the side of the argument that companies have a legal responsibility to keep customer data secure from hackers.  In one ruling the FTC said, “A company does not act equitably when it publishes a privacy policy to attract customers who are concerned about data privacy, fails to make good on that promise by investing inadequate resources into cybersecurity..”

One of the biggest areas of concern for the FTC is how (and where) companies are storing the sensitive customer data.  Given the recent results of cases from the FTC, it seems likely that they (or congress) will be moving forward with laws or regulations regarding specific data storage requirements.

What those may be is anyone’s guess.  Most likely, however, in the coming year there will be clear rules and regulations regarding the type of security that must be put in place and what types of steps a company must take to keep the data safe.

This will impact companies of all sizes, including many marketers.  Marketers gain customer data in a variety of ways and they will be responsible for keeping it safe.  If you are an affiliate marketer, for example, and you keep certain customer data on an unencrypted spreadsheet on your desktop, you could be at risk.  While it isn’t likely that a hacker will target your PC for that specific reason, you never know what future hacks and malware will do.

While the future is always a mystery when looking at the FTC and other government agencies, the fact is that good data security is always a smart move.  Take some time now to evaluate how you collect and store all customer or user data.  How can this be improved to keep it safe?  A little planning today can help protect you and your customers tomorrow.

Pesach Lattin
Pesach Lattinhttp://www.adotat.com
Pesach "Pace" Lattin is one of the top experts in interactive advertising, affiliate marketing. Pesach Lattin is known for his dedication to ethics in marketing, and focus on compliance and fraud in the industry, and has written numerous articles for publications from MediaPost, ClickZ, ADOTAS and his own blogs.

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