Federal Trade Commission

Using Facta Remedies: an Ftc Staff Report on a Survey of Identity Theft Victims Federal Trade Commission

Publisher Marketing: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) maintains a longstanding and comprehensive program to combat identity theft. The FTC enforces a variety of laws requiring entities to protect consumer information and ensure that such information does not fall into the hands of identity thieves or other unauthorized persons. For example, the FTC enforces the Safeguards Rule under the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act; the Fair Credit Reporting Act; and the FTC Act's proscription against unfair and deceptive acts or practices in cases where a business makes false or misleading claims about its data security procedures, or where its failure to employ reasonable security measures causes or is likely to cause substantial consumer injury that is not reasonably avoidable by consumers and not outweighed by countervailing benefits. Since 2001, the Commission has brought 35 law enforcement actions to ensure that businesses implement reasonable safeguards to protect the consumer information they maintain. In addition, the FTC manages the Identity Theft Clearinghouse, a secure online database of identity theft-related complaints, and analyzes this data to target consumer education efforts and assist criminal law enforcers. The FTC also disseminates consumer education materials on identity theft, both directly and through public and private sector partners.