Hank Johnson: “With increased opportunities for private organizations to obtain, maintain, and disseminate sensitive private…”

“With increased opportunities for private organizations to obtain, maintain, and disseminate sensitive private information of citizens, it is critical that we not prevent or delay enforcement of consumer protection laws designed to protect Americans' privacy rights. As Professor David Uhlmann of Michigan Law noted during the hearing on H.R. 5063, this measure ``fails to adequately address the fact that generalized harm arises in civil cases,'' including cases brought under consumer protection laws under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. H.R. 5063 only exempts payments to parties other than the government to provide restitution for actual harm ``directly and proximately caused by the party making the payment.'' Congress has expressly granted authority to the Federal Trade Commission, however, to resolve complaints against corporations for unfair or deceptive acts or practices under section 5 of the FTC Act. As part of resolving potential civil liability of corporations for unlawful conduct, FTC settlement agreements typically require parties to address generalized harms of unlawful conduct by adopting a privacy program, employee training and monitoring requirements, third-party auditing, regular testing of privacy controls and procedures, and other reasonable steps to maintain security practices consistent with the underlying settlement. The protection of Americans' privacy is not a Democratic or a Republican issue.…”