Kathy Castor: “The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has broad authority to protect consumers and is tasked specifically with targeting…”

“The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has broad authority to protect consumers and is tasked specifically with targeting fraud, deceptive advertising, robocalls, identity theft, and online privacy. Hardly a day goes by when personal private or financial data isn't lost to an online data breach or theft. Americans deserve to have greater privacy protections for what they do online. And we need an FTC that has the tools necessary to go after bad actors and hold them accountable. I'd like to compliment the Appropriations Committee for providing the FTC with a $40 million increase from FY19. FTC needs more resources to protect our personal online data, but I remain concerned that the FTC will still struggle to fulfill its mission and hold companies accountable for violations of the law, data breaches and particularly our children's online privacy. Every week there is a new report of companies skirting the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. When the FTC does go after bad actors it is often too late and the penalties are too insignificant. On the Energy and Commerce Committee, my colleagues and I are working to improve children's online privacy protections. Recently, as part of that work, FTC Chairman Simons testified that a FTC $5.7 million settlement with a company that illegally collected information on children, in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, was the largest civil penalty in an children's online privacy case.…”