296A. The Federal Trade Commission and Online Privacy

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has emerged as the primary regulator of online privacy. In a recent case, the FTC marked the end of contract law approaches to online privacy in favor of a more interventionalist approach. Years of protecting consumers against “harm” has evolved to an attempt to protect consumer “dignity” in online commerce.

This transition has profound implications for US online commerce. In grounding privacy rights in dignitary interests, the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors will become less clear. Those wishing to represent online businesses should have a strong understanding of this agency, its norms, and approaches to address clients’ business challenges.

This seminar will explore the agency’s dominance in this area of law, its policy approaches, and in particular, how it addresses growing concern over online privacy.

In January 2010, the FTC will host a major policy workshop on online privacy at UC Berkeley Law. We will leverage this opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the agency’s policy challenges. Students will be required to participate in this workshop and by the semester’s end, prepare a significant policy document on the FTC that will be shared with the agency’s leadership. Additionally, students will author a shorter paper focusing upon a Commissioner of the agency.

Note: This course is cross-listed with Law 276P.1 (Seminar: Advanced Privacy Topics)