by Daniel J. Solove

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit just affirmed the district court decision in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., No. 14-3514 (3rd. Cir. Aug. 24, 2015).  The case involves a challenge by Wyndham to an Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement action emerging out of data breaches at the Wyndham.

Background

Since the mid-1990s, the FTC has been enforcing Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, in instances involving privacy and data security.  Section 5 prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.”  Deception and unfairness are two independent bases for FTC enforcement.  During the past 15-20 years, the FTC has brought about 180 enforcement actions, the vast majority of which have settled.  Wyndham was one of the exceptions; instead of settling, it challenged the FTC’s authority to enforce to protect data security as an unfair trade practice.

Among the arguments made by Wyndham, three are most worth focusing on:

(1) Because Congress enacted data security laws to regulate specific industries, Congress didn’t intend for the FTC to be able to regulate data security under the FTC Act.

(2) The FTC is not providing fair notice about the security practices it deems as “unfair” because it is enforcing on a case-by-case basis rather than promulgating a set of specific practices it deems as unfair.

(3) The FTC failed to establish “substantial injury to consumers” as required to enforce for unfairness.

The district court rejected all three of these arguments, and so did the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.  Here is a very brief overview of the 3rd Circuit’s reasoning.

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