Landmark Data Privacy Bill Affirms FTC’s Role in AI

The Federal Trade Commission would be granted powers at the center of the artificial intelligence policy debate under a major bipartisan, bicameral agreement on draft data privacy legislation, while being compelled to drop a rulemaking on “commercial surveillance” that had thrilled privacy activists and enraged business groups.

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But public interest advocates last fall said one way to begin mitigating the dangerous effects artificial intelligence can have on areas like democracy would be to advance the surveillance rulemaking and limit the data companies collect on individuals for microtargeting purposes.

The R Street Institute’s Brandon Pugh commented that the FTC proposal covers many of the same areas in the new legislation and that “it is best for Congress to make policy calls and provide specific direction.”