We write to comment on the questions addressed in the December 12, 2017 workshop on informational injury hosted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission). Consumers’ interests in their personal information are contextual and case- and individual-specific.
As a result, it is challenging—and indeed inappropriate—for regulators to prescriptively identify and classify every potential value a person places on their data. Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act was conspicuously crafted to apply to a broad and evolving array of consumer protection concerns. For these reasons, we encourage an expansive definition of what could constitute an informational injury.