Machines are getting smarter – so consumer protection enforcers like the Federal Trade Commission need to get smarter too. The FTC is the lead federal agency for protecting the privacy rights and data security of American consumers. In the last year, it brought several enforcement actions against companies for violating consumer privacy and data security and launched new initiatives – PrivacyCon, Start with Security, and a new Office of Technology Research and Investigation– to improve its capabilities and responsiveness to new threats to consumer privacy and security. But the FTC needs your help. Today it is announcing a call for research on specific topics in order to broaden its capabilities to protect consumers. Come learn about the policy responses to the rise of the machines, the FTC’s cases and research initiatives, and how you can help.
Terrell McSweeny serves as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. This year marks her third time at DEF CON . When it comes to tech issues, Commissioner McSweeny has focused on the valuable role researchers and hackers can play protecting consumer data security and privacy. She opposes bad policy and legislative proposals like mandatory backdoors and the criminalization of hacking and believes that enforcers like the FTC should work with the researcher community to protect consumers. She wants companies to implement security by design, privacy by design and data ethics by design –but recognizes that, in the absence of regulation, enforcement and research are the only means of holding companies accountable for the choices they make in the ways that they hold and use consumer data. Twitter: @TMcSweenyFTC
Lorrie Cranor joined the Federal Trade Commission as Chief Technologist in January 2016. She is on leave from Carnegie Mellon University where she is a Professor of Computer Science and of Engineering and Public Policy, Director of the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory (CUPS), and Co-director of the MSIT-Privacy Engineering masters program. She also co-founded Wombat Security Technologies, an information security awareness training company. Cranor has authored over 150 research papers on online privacy and usable security, and has played a central role in establishing the usable privacy and security research community, including her founding of the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security. She is a Fellow of the ACM and IEEE. Twitter: @TechFTC