The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has struck again in the data privacy world, this time at 13 companies that allegedly misrepresented in their privacy statements that they were U.S.-EU or U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor certified. This latest enforcement sweep demonstrates the FTC’s privacy focus and reinforces the need for companies to make accurate public representations.

The FTC charged the 13 companies with misleading consumers and has proposed placing them under a familiar 20-year consent order. The consent order requires the companies to refrain from  misrepresenting privacy or security program adherence and to keep strict records for the FTC’s overview. For the next 20 years, any companies that disobey the consent order will be subject to a $16,000 civil penalty per violation.Continue Reading Recent FTC Safe Harbor Enforcement Takeaways