The practice of gathering, analyzing, and profiting from data about individuals is known as commercial surveillance. Due to the volume of data gathered by some companies, individuals may be vulnerable to identity theft and hacking. Indeed, the dangers and stakes of errors, deception, manipulation, and other abuses have increased as a result of mass surveillance. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking input from the general public on whether additional regulations are necessary to safeguard individuals’ privacy and personal data in the commercial surveillance economy.

I advise you to attend the open forum on September 8, 2022, particularly if you are a researcher focusing on the topic of privacy and security. Also, if you are developing your own system or perhaps planning your next research project, I highly recommend you look at some of the topics identified by the FTC as these are likely to affect the design of your project. Here are the topics mentioned: “Harms to Consumers”, “Harms to Children”, “Costs and Benefits”, “Regulations”, “Automated Systems”, “Discrimination”, “Consumer Consent”, “Notice, Transparency, and Disclosure”, “Remedies”, and “Obsolescence”. Pay particular attention to the topic “Automated Systems” if your system uses AI/ML technologies.

More information can be found here: https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/commercial-surveillance-data-security-rulemaking and https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/08/ftc-explores-rules-cracking-down-commercial-surveillance-lax-data-security-practices