The Internet is many things, but it is no longer the Wild West environment it was in its early days. The FTC, for one, is taking steps to shore up privacy rules and keep a watchful eye on potentially anticompetitive activities. There’s a lack of agreement on whether the agency is going far enough, however, particularly with respect to its stance concerning Google’s hold on the search advertising market.
Periodically we are reminded that the Federal Trade Commission plays a major role in regulating the Internet. For instance, the FTC is in charge of protecting privacy on the Internet in the U.S. and continually starts new privacy initiatives as the use of the Internet evolves.
Unlike the EU, which has strict data privacy rules, the FTC has decided that websites are not required to have privacy policies at all — and those sites can do anything they like with personal identifiable information.