On Tuesday, March 19 at 2 pm, EPIC will host a press conference moderated by EPIC President Marc Rotenberg. The event will take place at the Fund for Constitutional Government, on Capitol Hill, across the street from the US Supreme Court. Participants include speakers from U.S. PIRG, Public Citizen, and EPIC. The event will focus on Facebook, the Federal Trade Commission, privacy and the 2011 consent order. EPIC has launched the #EnforceTheOrder Campaign to urge action on the consent order. In 2011, the agency issued a sweeping order against Facebook. The FTC Chairman said at the time, "Facebook is obligated to keep the promises about privacy that it makes to its hundreds of millions of users. Facebook's innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy. The FTC action will ensure it will not." Press advisory. Flyer.
EPIC has filed an urgent Freedom of Information Act request to the Federal Trade Commission seeking all pending complaints. As a result of the extensive work of consumer organizations, the Commission issued a consent order against Facebook in 2011 barring the company from making any future misrepresentations about the privacy and security of a user's personal information. But the FTC has failed to issue any fines or declare any of Facebook's actions, including the Cambridge Analytical scandal, a violation of the consent order. The FTC has also not published the number of pending consumer complaints against Facebook. With the one-year deadline of the reopening of the Facebook investigation approaching, EPIC has launched the campaign #EnforceTheOrder.
EPIC, joined by other privacy groups, submitted comments on the FAA’s interim final rule for external ID for drones. The proposal requires the external display of registration numbers on drones. While EPIC agreed external marking are preferable to hidden identifiers, EPIC said the rule did not go far enough. EPIC wrote, “Because drones present substantial privacy and safety risks, EPIC recommends that the FAA require any drone operating in the national airspace system to broadcast location when aloft (latitude, longitude, and altitude), course, speed over ground, as well as owner identifying information and contact information[.]” EPIC also suggested the agency require operators register and broadcast surveillance capabilities. EPIC has long advocated for remote identification mandates for drones and petitioned for regulation of these surveillance tools.
