Category: History

Thanks to the Privacy Bridges effort, we are having a constructive conversation at the Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners Conference about how companies can do the right thing as they operate globally. Several elephants are in the room—the Safe Harbor being most prominent. Yet, that solution cannot emerge from this conference. Another elephant could be…

Historians of consumerism have recognized three waves of consumer movements. The first surrounded the passage of the 1906 Food and Drug law. The second took hold after the great depression, and reached its height with the passage of amendments to the FDA Act and the Wheeler–Lea Amendments to the FTC Act. The third was actuated…

When companies settle FTC charges, they often agree to extended periods of oversight by the Agency. The FTC requires companies to be regularly assessed by an outside firm during the oversight period. In my forthcoming book, I argue that this assessment model is inapt for the Commission for several reasons. The 2014 assessment report by…

In 2009, FaceBook made major changes to privacy settings of its users that became part of the basis of FTC charges against the company. Prior to the 2009 changes, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the service would radically change its privacy policies. Later Zuckerberg explained, “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more…

Should privacy be a matter of individual choice and individual responsibility, or an inherent part of products and services? Should public policy focus on educating the consumer, or on creating incentives to building attributes into the structure of products? Lessons from the 1950s–60s battle over car safety features some of the same public debates as…

Policy arguments and analyses abound with ahistorical argument concerning technology and privacy. In these arguments, privacy is often presented as a modern concept, one that came into focus with the rise of the commercial internet. Privacy is not a modern concept; it is deeply embedded in the values of Western culture.[1] Nor are conflicts among…

The Third Circuit released an opinion today in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corporation affirming a district court decision that the FTC has jurisdiction to pursue Wyndham for security lapses at the hotel chain. The summary below is in narrative format. The most important point is the last–the Third Circuit held that FTC complaints could give…

George Rublee both conceptualized Section 5, the heart of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and became its main proponent on Capitol Hill. In July 1914, a 22-page memo Rublee wrote was forwarded to President Wilson. The FTC Act’s supporters used the memo to gain passage of the legislation. The memo conveys several core characteristics about…

Why do consumers choose privacy-invasive services? Why are more privacy-protective services not available? One explanation is that “privacy does not sell.” In fact, the marketplace is littered with failed companies that tried to sell privacy-protective services to consumers. Ralph Nader, in his seminal Unsafe at Any Speed[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=””…

Apologies for not posting more often here. I just finished the book and it is in production. It is 130,000 words, cites to about 900 sources, and should be available in January 2016. I will soon post the index and bibliography.

This undated album contains six public service announcements to advise consumers about the hazards of buying used cars. Apparently the Federal Trade Commission distributed it to radio stations to be broadcast as public service announcements. The album’s content suggests that it was created between 1976 and 1981. At the time, the FTC was building support…

Consumerism is characterized by a strong mistrust (and sometime ignorance) of macroeconomics, a desire to include social costs and benefits in the valuation of products (instead of just price), and alacrity to take action to identify and remedy problems in the marketplace. Many modern consumer movements, such as the environmental, and the anti-GMO and organic…