Jules Polenetsky of the Future of Privacy Forum has this intriguing message posted on the group’s Facebook page:
Chatting with FTC Commissioner Julie Brill who advises that the claim that she said the upcoming FTC report will support self regulation is not accurate. The report will provide a framework of principles for both legal policy and self-regulation
Rewind to October 19, when Wendy Davis of MediaPost reported:
The Federal Trade Commission’s upcoming report about behavioral advertising will include suggestions for how online ad companies can better protect consumers’ privacy, but won’t recommend that Congress enact new laws, commission member Julie Brill said on Tuesday.
“The Commission isn’t calling for regulation right now,” she said in a speech Tuesday at a privacy conference held by the law firm Proskauer. “We’re talking about a new self-regulatory framework.”
That quote seems pretty clear, doesn’t it?
And if Wendy Davis somehow misheard or got it wrong (and I’m not suggesting that she did), why didn’t the FTC immediately issue a statement when it knew that this was being picked up all over? Why is this only coming out in an informal chat at a conference overseas?
C’mon, FTC, if you’re going to disclaim your own statements or claim that they’re not accurate, do it properly.
Via @PrivacyCamp
Update: Brendon Tavelli uploaded Ms. Brill’s comments in full. You can read them here. How much she may have deviated from them or said something else in any Q&A is unknown to me, but see how you read her prepared remarks.