EPIC filed a series of open government requests seeking information on fusion centers' role in monitoring Black Lives Matter protests this summer and on fusion centers' possession of advanced surveillance technologies including location tracking services, cell phone data extraction tools, facial recognition, and social media monitoring tools. EPIC sent requests to federally funded fusion centers in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Northern California, and North Dakota. Fusion centers are state or regional intelligence units that provide police with access to advanced surveillance technologies while relaying information to the Department of Homeland Security. EPIC previously urged DHS's DPIAC committee to investigate fusion centers and recommend ending federal funding of fusion centers.
The Federal Trade Commission's 2013 failure to sue Google for antitrust violations went against the advice of FTC staff and disregarded evidence of Google's growing market dominance, according to records obtained by Politico. FTC antitrust attorneys advised the Commission to bring suit against Google to block future deals with mobile companies making Google an exclusive search provider. But the Commission rejected that recommendation on the view that mobile search was only a small part of the search market, a conclusion that quickly proved outdated. The records published by Politico also reveal that Amazon and Facebook—both of which are now facing their own antitrust proceedings—privately pushed the FTC to take enforcement action against Google. Google's anticompetitive practices in search and targeted advertising are the basis of two antitrust lawsuits brought by the Department of Justice and state attorneys general last year. On Monday, Texas announced that it would broaden its lawsuit to cover Google's planned replacement for third-party cookies—so-called "FLoCs"—which would do little to protect privacy but further consolidate Google's market power. EPIC has long targeted anticompetitive practices by Google, including its acquisition of DoubleClick and bias in YouTube search rankings. EPIC also helped bring about the FTC's 2011 order establishing privacy safeguards for Google users and sued when Google violated that order.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has announced updated regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that ban so-called “dark patterns” that delay or obscure the process for opting out of the sale of personal information. Specifically, it prohibits companies from burdening consumers with confusing language or unnecessary steps such as forcing them to click through multiple screens or listen to reasons why they shouldn’t opt out. "These protections ensure that consumers will not be confused or misled when seeking to exercise their data privacy rights," said Attorney General Becerra. Dark patterns "are design features used to deceive, steer, or manipulate users into behavior that is profitable for an online service, but often harmful to users or contrary to their intent." Last month, EPIC filed a complaint with the D.C. Attorney General alleging that Amazon unlawfully employs manipulative "dark patterns" in the Amazon Prime subscription cancellation process. Next month, the FTC plans a workshop on "Bringing Dark Patterns to Light."
