Letter To FTC on Commercial Surveillance

We, the undersigned groups, write to emphasize the importance of developing specific, concrete civil rights protections in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) ongoing Commercial Surveillance and Data Security Rulemaking (ANPR). We applaud the Commission’s broad efforts to rein in unfair and deceptive commercial surveillance practices. In order to protect civil rights in a data-driven economy, the forthcoming proposed rules must clearly prohibit discrimination as an unfair trade practice.

As documented throughout the many comments submitted in response to the FTC’s ANPR, the effects of discrimination still define the lived experiences for many people in the United States. Despite decades of effort to root out and redress discrimination, people who are marginalized because of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or income continue to experience discrimination when accessing basic goods and services, seeking economic opportunities, and pursuing safe and healthy lives.