White House official: Enhanced civil penalties authority at FTC would incentivize good behavior on privacy, security

Abigail Slater, special assistant to the president for cyber policy at the National Economic Council, said there is “violent agreement” on the benefit of expanding the Federal Trade Commission's authority and enabling it to issue fines for companies making first-time violations of privacy and data security promises.

“The role of the FTC, which has been doing a fine job, has been misunderstood,” Slater said. “So let's codify what they're already doing in some places, and strengthen the role. One way...