Many of us have grown used to the idea that companies constantly collect information about us as we go about our daily lives. It may be information we give up willingly, like a credit card number for a purchase. But it also may be information that we don’t know we’re surrendering, and may not want to share. Companies are able to collect enormous amounts of personal data about virtually every conceivable aspect of our lives, often in ways that we might not expect or understand.
The FTC calls this “commercial surveillance,” and it’s the subject of the Commission’s newly announced Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. In this Notice, the FTC asks for your comments about data practices that you might believe are unfair or deceptive, and how the FTC can best address those practices.