FTC commissioner calls for way to 'reclaim your name'

U.S. consumers should be able to reclaim control of their personal data from data brokers, websites, and other companies, a member of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday.

FTC

FTC Commissioner Julie Brill

Commissioner Julie Brill, a long-time privacy advocate, will push for an initiative called Reclaim Your Name that would give consumers knowledge and technology tools to reassert control over personal data held by companies, she said. Consumers should be “the ones to decide how much to share, with whom and for what purpose,” Brill said during the Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conference in Washington, D.C.

Reclaim Your Name would allow consumers to find out how data brokers and other companies are collecting and using data, give them access to the data collected, and allow them to opt out of collection for marketing purposes, Brill said. The initiative would help consumers navigate the potential down sides of collection of their information in the name of big data analytics, she said.

In some cases, big data collectors are “taking advantage of us without our permission,” Brill said. “Often without consent or warning, and sometimes in completely surprising ways, big data analysts are tracking our every click and purchase, examining them to determine exactly who we are—establishing our name, good or otherwise—and retaining the information in dossiers that we know nothing about, much less consent to.”

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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2043037/ftc-commissioner-calls-for-way-to-reclaim-your-name.html#tk.rss_all

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