Erin Illman Quoted in Law360 on the Federal Trade Commission's Cybersecurity and Privacy Priorities

Bradley attorney Erin Illman was quoted in Law360’s story on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) future actions and priorities in regard to the mounting cyberthreats against consumers and business practices. FTC Chair- Lina Khan- is preparing to deliver her remarks on privacy and data security and guidance on the extension of the FTC’s powers in response to increasing threats to cybersecurity.

"It will be interesting to see if the FTC has fully mapped out their enforcement priorities in the privacy and data security space and what that's going to be based on, whether it be consumer complaints or some other metric the commissioners have created about what's important to them moving forward," said Illman, Chair of Bradley’s Cybersecurity and Private Practice Group, on the potential future actions of the FTC.

Illman also notes that there's little doubt that the FTC will continue to focus on its long-standing priorities of protecting consumers from misleading business practices and the misuse of their data, the commission is also likely to build on its recent push to pursue enforcement actions that allow it to stretch its authority to police unfair and deceptive trade practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act.

"Since Section 5 is the primary tool in their tool kit, we've been seeing an evolution within the FTC over the last several years to try to build out some creative ways to fit things into an unfair and deceptive box," Illman added. "The commission's last several cases have shown that, and part of its enforcement priorities moving forward is likely to be to create an avenue for them to expand that enforcement ability."

The complete article, “FTA Chair Poised to Offer Glimpse Into Privacy Priorities,” was published on August 19, 2022. (login required)