Dive Brief:
- The Federal Trade Commission this week released a report about the dangers of having billions of devices connected to the Internet, sharing all kinds of data via largely unsecured networks, drawing sharp rebukes from tech advocates and even one of the FTC's own commissioners.
- The report, titled "Internet of Things: Privacy and Security in a Connected World," concluded that a broad, new slate of privacy legislation and regulation is required to protect the information that travels over those networks. That recommendation prompted Daniel Castro, Director of the Center for Data Innovation for the Washington, DC-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation to issue a release pointing out that the study "unfortunately attempts to shoehorn old ideas on new technology by calling for broad-based privacy legislation." He further remarked that more draconian regulations aimed at security would actually wind up choking off the flow of innovation from IT companies.
- Meanwhile, down the street, FTC Commissioner Joshua D. Wright made it clear in his dissent, published on the FTC's website, that he was opposed to releasing the report. "Before setting forth industry best practices and recommendations for broad-based privacy legislation relating to the Internet of Things—proposals that could have a profound impact upon consumers—the Commission and its staff should, at a minimum, undertake the necessary work not only to identify the potential costs and benefits of implementing such best practices and recommendations, but also to perform analysis sufficient to establish with reasonable confidence that such benefits are not outweighed by their costs at the margin of policy intervention," Wright wrote in his dissent.
Dive Insight:
So, a regulatory body with a penchant for overreaching released a report recommending a huge new slate of regulations for technologies it doesn't clearly understand. While the report was not specific to healthcare, the impact of the regulations suggested would certainly have a stifling impact on some of the multi-million-dollar Big Data ventures announced by companies like Allina Health and Anthem.
In scouring the material from both the ITIF and Commissioner Wright's dissent letter, there is an almost palpable lack of surprise in their tones, overshadowed only by the sharpness of their criticisms. Both documents included a call for the FTC to perform "more analysis" before recommending regulations for IT privacy and security. That's Beltway code for "you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about."
What's even more striking about the whole tempest in a server is how determined the FTC was to issue its report, knowing that it was opposed from within their own agency. It's almost as if the agency was concerned that the IT security train was leaving the station, and it didn't want to be left behind.