[{"description":"dc.contributor.author: Larochelle, Vincent dc.date.issued: 2026-10 dc.description.abstract: Ce mémoire analyse la politique linguistique canadienne à travers l’un de ses aspects fondamentaux, celui des langues officielles dans la fonction publique fédérale canadienne. En partant d’une mise en contexte historique couvrant la période allant de la Conquête anglaise à la Révolution tranquille, il rappelle d’abord le contexte social dans lequel évoluaient les Canadiens français et les Canadiens anglais, et auquel la politique linguistique canadienne était censée répondre. Pour évaluer l’efficacité de la politique linguistique canadienne, ce mémoire procède à une analyse inédite de la composition linguistique de la fonction publique canadienne au fil du temps. Cette analyse de données s’étalant sur plus de 50 ans révèle un double constat : si les fonctionnaires francophones sont désormais représentés à la hauteur du poids démographique qu’ils occupent dans la société canadienne, les postes français ont subi un effondrement de près de 70% entre 1973 et 2024, passant de 12,5% à seulement 3,2% de l’ensemble des postes, tandis que les postes anglais demeurent quasi-stables, ne perdant sur la même période que 3,1% de leurs effectifs. Dans une fonction publique censée être bilingue selon la Loi, il y a aujourd’hui 15 fois plus de postes anglais que de postes français. Il y a par ailleurs six fois moins de postes français dans la fonction publique fédérale canadienne que le poids réel des francophones au sein de la société canadienne. En outre, pour chaque poste anglais disponible pour un fonctionnaire anglophone, le fonctionnaire francophone a accès à 6 fois moins de postes français. Il en résulte que, comme jadis, l’anglais demeure la langue de travail nettement dominante de la fonction publique fédérale, tandis que le français continue d’être marginalisé, en contradiction avec certains des objectifs de la Loi sur les langues officielles.; This master’s thesis analyzes the Canadian language policy through one of its fundamental aspects, official languages within the Canadian federal public service. Starting with a historical overview spanning the period going from the English Conquest to the Quiet Revolution, it first recalls the social context in which French Canadians and English Canadians evolved, and to which the Canadian language policy was supposed to respond. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the Canadian language policy, this thesis carries out an original analysis of the linguistic composition of the federal public service over time. This over 50-year data analysis reveals a dual finding: while francophone public servants are now represented in proportion to their demographic weight in Canadian society, french positions have collapsed by nearly 70% between 1973 and 2024, falling from 12.5% to only 3.2% of all positions, whereas English positions have remained nearly stable, losing only 3.1% of their share over the same period. In a public service that is supposed to be bilingual under the Act, there are today 15 times more English positions than French positions. Moreover, there are six times fewer French positions in the Canadian public service than the actual demographic weight of Francophones in the Canadian society. Furthermore, for every Anglophone public servant who obtains a position in their language, a Francophone public servant has 6 times fewer chances of obtaining a position in their language. As a result, as in the past, English remains the clearly dominant working language of the federal public service, while french continues to be marginalized, in contradiction with some of","titre":"Le français dans la fonction publique fédérale","id":3260041,"pubDate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 08:25:09 +0100","source":"Faculté de droit Travaux récents","url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1866/46873"},{"id":3200009,"pubDate":"Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:06:39 +0200","titre":"The FTC's Google settlement: What's the buzz?","description":"The FTC's Google settlement: What's the buzz? wfg-adm109 April 1, 2011 | 4:28PM The FTC's Google settlement: What's the buzz? By Lesley Fair “Sweet!  Check out Buzz.” “Nah, go to my inbox.” That was the intriguing choice facing Gmail users last year when Google launched Google Buzz, its social network. But according to a settlement announced this week by the FTC, the company violated the privacy promises it made to Gmail users and used deceptive tactics in the Buzz rollout. The story starts with Google’s privacy policy. From October 2004 until October 2010, Gmail users were told, \"Gmail stores, processes and maintains your messages, contact lists and other data related to your account in order to provide service to you.\"  On the subject of the choices users had about the use of their personal information in all of Google’s products, including Gmail, the privacy policy said, \"When you sign up for a particular service that requires registration, we ask you to provide personal information. If we use this information in a manner different than the purpose for which it was collected, then we will ask for your consent prior to such use.\"  According to the FTC, statements like that conveyed that Google would use information from people signing up for Gmail only for the purpose of providing them with email service and that Google would ask for their consent before using their info for any other purpose. So far, so good. But then came the roll-out of Google Buzz. The service allows users to share updates, comments, pictures, videos, and the like through “buzzes” made either publicly or privately to individuals or groups of users. When Buzz was launched, Gmail users were taken to a welcome screen that announced the new service and presented the “Sweet!” or “Nah” choice. If users clicked “Nah,” the FTC complaint alleges that their info was nonetheless shared in a number of ways. First, the user could still be “followed” by Gmail users who enrolled in Buzz. Second, if the Gmail user had previously created a Google profile, he or she could appear on the public Google profiles of Buzz enrollees who were following them. Third, a link to Buzz would show up on the list of links on the user’s Gmail page. If the user clicked on that link, he or she would be taken to the Buzz welcome screen and would be automatically enrolled in Buzz without any disclosure of that fact. In other words, users would be enrolled in certain features of Buzz even if they didn’t sign up. So much for “Nah.” The FTC’s complaint alleges that despite what it said in its privacy policy, Google didn’t use information from people signing up for Gmail just for the purpose of providing email service. Rather, the company used it to populate Buzz. Thus, said the FTC, the representations in Google’s privacy policy were false or misleading. Furthermore, the agency alleged that despite the promise in its privacy policy that Google would ask for consumers’ consent before using their information for another purpose, Google went ahead and used it to populate its social network without getting their permission. The FTC charged that was false or misleading and constituted a deceptive practice. The next part of the story:   The not-so-sweet results when users clicked the “Sweet!”","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2011/04/ftcs-google-settlement-whats-buzz","source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts"},{"titre":"FTC Finalizes Orders with Cox Media Group, Two Other Firms Settling Charges They Deceived Customers About “Active Listening” AI-Powered Marketing Service","pubDate":"Fri, 28 Aug 2026 08:07:59 +0200","id":3120376,"description":"The Federal Trade Commission finalized orders requiring Cox Media Group (CMG) and two other firms to pay a total of $930,000 to settle allegations they deceived customers by falsely claiming to offer an AI-powered service that could target localized ads based on conversations captured from consumers’ smart devices and that consumers had opted into such targeting. In three separate complaints first announced in May , the FTC alleged that Georgia-based media and marketing company CMG Media Corporation, which does business as  Cox Media Group , and two marketing firms it worked with, New Hampshire-based MindSift LLC  and Wisconsin-based  1010 Digital Works LLC ,  deceived customers by claiming they used a special algorithm to listen in on and detect pertinent conversations from smart devices in order to target ads to consumers within a specific geographic region. Contrary to these companies’ claims, however, the marketing service wasn’t based on voice data, and consumers hadn’t opted into this service. If the service had functioned as advertised, this collection and use of consumers’ voice data without adequate consent would itself violate the FTC Act. Under the proposed orders settling the FTC’s allegations,  CMG must pay $880,000 while both  MindSift and  1010 Digital Works  must each pay $25,000, which will be used to provide redress to CMG customers impacted by these practices. In addition, each defendant is prohibited from making any misrepresentation about the qualities or features of its advertising or marketing services; the collection and use of voice data and whether consumers have provided their consent to collect, use or disclose their voice data; and the geographic targeting capabilities of its advertising or marketing services. After receiving two comments on the proposed settlement orders, the Commission voted 2-0 to give final approval to the consent","source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/08/ftc-finalizes-orders-cox-media-group-two-other-firms-settling-charges-they-deceived-customers-about"},{"url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/01/ftc-finalizes-order-settling-allegations-gm-onstar-collected-sold-geolocation-data-without-consumers","source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers","description":"The Federal Trade Commission finalized an order with General Motors and OnStar settling allegations that they collected, used, and sold consumers’ precise geolocation data and driving behavior data from millions of vehicles without adequately notifying consumers and obtaining their affirmative consent. Under the order finalized by the Commission, General Motors LLC, General Motors Holdings LLC, and OnStar, LLC (collectively GM), which are owned by General Motors Company, are prohibited from sharing certain consumer data with consumer reporting agencies. They also are required to take steps to provide greater transparency and choice to consumers over the collection, use, and disclosure of their connected vehicle data. In a complaint first announced in January 2025, the FTC alleged that GM used a misleading enrollment process to get consumers to sign up for its OnStar connected vehicle service and OnStar Smart Driver feature. The FTC also alleged that GM failed to clearly disclose that it collected consumers’ precise geolocation and driving behavior data via the Smart Driver feature and sold it to third parties without consumers’ consent. The final order approved by the Commission imposes a five-year ban on GM disclosing consumers’ geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies. This fencing-in relief is appropriate given GM’s egregious betrayal of consumers’ trust. And for the entire 20-year life of the order, GM will be required to: obtain affirmative express consent from consumers prior to collecting, using, or sharing connected vehicle data (including sharing data with consumer reporting agencies), with some exceptions such as for providing location data to emergency first responders; create a way for all U.S. consumers to request a copy of their data and seek its deletion; give consumers the ability to disable the collection of precise geolocation data from their vehicles if their vehicle has the necessary technology; and provide a way for consumers to opt out of the collection of geolocation and driver behavior data, with some limited exceptions. The Commission voted 2-0 to approve the final order and complaint as well as provide responses to","id":2633494,"pubDate":"Thu, 15 Jan 2026 09:52:25 +0100","titre":"FTC Finalizes Order Settling Allegations that GM and OnStar Collected and Sold Geolocation Data Without Consumers’ Informed Consent"},{"source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/ftc-will-require-illusory-systems-return-money-stolen-hackers-implement-information-security-program","titre":"FTC Will Require Illusory Systems to Return Money Stolen by Hackers and Implement an Information Security Program","pubDate":"Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:50:37 +0100","id":2577895,"description":"The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Illusory Systems Inc. for failing to implement adequate data security measures, leading to a major security breach in which hackers stole $186 million from consumers. Under a proposed order settling the FTC’s allegations, Utah-based Illusory, which does business as Nomad, will be required to implement an information security program to address numerous alleged security failures and to return recovered money to affected consumers. “The FTC Act requires companies to take reasonable security measures,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “It’s important that companies live up to their security promises to consumers.” In its complaint , the FTC alleged that Nomad prominently touted its security in its advertising, claiming that it offered “security-first” services. The FTC, however, alleged that the company failed to live up to these promises by failing to: use secure coding practices; implement processes for receiving and addressing vulnerability reports and responding to security incidents; and utilize widely known technologies that might have helped mitigate consumer losses. According to the complaint, in June 2022, Nomad introduced inadequately tested code that included a significant vulnerability. Just over a month later, hackers began exploiting the vulnerability. The FTC alleged that Nomad failed to respond to the attack in time because of its inadequate security and incident response measures, which led to the loss of $186 million. The company was able to recover some money, but consumers lost approximately $100 million. Nomad was warned about the dangers of inadequate testing as well as the need to ensure it had adequate staff and security in place. The company, however, failed to implement basic safety measures that would mitigate consumer losses, the FTC alleged. Under the proposed order , Nomad will be prohibited from making misrepresentations about its security practices. In addition, the company will also be required to: Implement a comprehensive information security program that is designed to protect consumers from theft or other unauthorized access and address the security issues outlined in the FTC’s complaint; Obtain biennial assessments of its information security program by an independent third party and cooperate with the third-party assessor; and Return to consumers money recovered following the security breach that was not already returned to customers. The Commission voted 2-0 to accept the proposed complaint and order for public comment. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register soon. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Instructions for filing comments will appear in the published notice. Once processed, comments will be posted on Regulations.gov. NOTE:  The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $51,744. The lead staff attorneys on this matter are M. Hasan Aijaz and Julia Horwitz with the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer"},{"url":"https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2025/dma-and-gdpr-edpb-and-european-commission-endorse-joint-guidelines-clarify-common_en","source":"EDPB News","pubDate":"Thu, 09 Oct 2025 15:53:21 +0200","id":2425502,"titre":"DMA and GDPR: EDPB and European Commission endorse joint guidelines to clarify common touchpoints","description":"Brussels, 09 October - The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Commission endorsed joint guidelines on the interplay between the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) . These are the first joint guidelines by the Board and the European Commission. In line with its 2024-2027 Strategy and the recent Helsinki Statement’s objectives to make GDPR compliance easier and strengthen consistency, the EDPB has cooperated with the European Commission, each within their respective mandates, to facilitate the coherent application of the DMA*and GDPR and to increase legal certainty for gatekeepers, business users, beneficiaries and individuals. EDPB Chair Anu Talus said:   “These joint guidelines are the result of a fruitful cooperation between the EDPB and the European Commission. This is the first time that the EDPB and the European Commission prepare guidelines jointly. This approach maximises usefulness of the guidance by simplifying compliance for businesses and bringing enhanced legal certainty to them.  The guidelines will help gatekeepers, business users and individuals to better understand their obligations and rights under the DMA, and ensure a consistent, effective and complementary application of the DMA and EU data protection law.” How the DMA and the GDPR interact The DMA and the GDPR both protect individuals in the digital landscape , but their goals are complementary as they address interconnected challenges: individual rights and privacy in case of the GDPR and fairness and contestability of digital markets under the DMA.    Several activities regulated by the DMA entail the processing of personal data by gatekeepers and, in several provisions, the DMA explicitly refers to definitions and concepts included in the GDPR. The joint guidelines clarify how gatekeepers can implement these DMA provisions in accordance with EU data protection law . For example, the EDPB and the Commission specify which elements gatekeepers should consider in order to comply with the requirements of specific choice and valid consent under Art. 5(2) DMA and the GDPR, and thus to lawfully combine or cross-use personal data in core platform services. The EDPB and the Commission also address other provisions including those related to the distribution of third party apps and stores, data portability, data access requests and interoperability of messaging services.   Next steps The Board and the Commission have just launched a joint public consultation on the first version of the guidelines which will be open until 4 December 2025 .  This will be an opportunity for stakeholders to comment and provide feedback. All submissions will be published on the DMA website to which a link will be included on the EDPB website, after the consultation period has closed. The final text, incorporating input received during the consultation, will be prepared jointly by the Board and the Commission, and will be adopted by the EDPB and European Commission.   More guidelines on the way Following these first joint guidelines with the Commission, further work is underway to clarify the new cross-regulatory landscape and maintain coherent and consistent safeguards for the protection of personal data. In this regard, the EDPB is working with the Commission, specifically with the AI Office, on joint guidelines on the interplay between the AI Act and EU data protection laws. Note to editors: The Digital Markets Act is one of the first regulatory tools that aims to tackle unfair practices of gatekeepers in digital markets. Gatekeepers are large digital platforms providing core platform services, such as online search engines, app stores, and messenger services. The main objective of the DMA is to make the markets in the digital sector fairer and more contestable. "},{"description":"Brussels, 12 September - During its September plenary meeting, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has adopted guidelines on the interplay between the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) . These are the first set of EDPB guidelines on the interplay between the GDPR and the EU’s recently adopted digital laws. The DSA aims to complement the rules of the GDPR to ensure the highest level of protection of fundamental rights in the digital space. Its main goal is to create a safer online environment in which the fundamental rights of all users, including the right to freedom of expression, are protected. It applies to online intermediary services , such as search engines and platforms. Several provisions included in the DSA entail the processing of personal data by intermediary service providers. The EDPB guidelines contribute to the consistent application of the DSA and of the GDPR, insofar as some provisions of the DSA concern the processing of personal data by intermediary service providers and include references to GDPR concepts and definitions. While it is up to the competent authorities under the DSA - with the support of the European Board for Digital Services and EU courts - to interpret the DSA, there are a number of provisions which relate to the GDPR. These include: notice-and-action systems that help individuals or entities report illegal content recommender systems used by online platforms to automatically present specific content to the users of the platform with a certain relative order or prominence the provisions to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security of minors and prohibiting that profile-based advertising using their data is presented to them transparency of advertising by online platforms prohibition of profiling-based advertising using special categories of data  The EDPB guidelines help to understand how the GDPR should be applied in the context of DSA obligations. The EDPB also provides practical guidance relating to the cross-regulatory cooperation between authorities to coordinate enforcement which will provide more legal certainty for intermediary service providers and ultimately to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals. The guidelines will be subject to public consultation, providing stakeholders with the opportunity to comment and provide feedback. EDPB Chair Anu Talus said: “By clarifying the interplay between the DSA and the GDPR, these guidelines mark a significant step towards ensuring a coherent and effective EU digital rulebook, and they will help uphold the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals. I hope that stakeholders, including the competent authorities under the DSA, will make the most of the opportunity to contribute to the public consultation\". More work in the pipeline Following these first guidelines on the interplay between the GDPR and the DSA, further work is underway with other regulators to clarify the new cross-regulatory landscape and maintain coherent and consistent safeguards for the protection of personal data. In this regard, the EDPB is working on joint guidelines with the European Commission on the interplay between the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the GDPR, as well as on joint guidelines on the interplay between the AI Act and EU data protection laws.","pubDate":"Fri, 12 Sep 2025 15:51:31 +0200","id":2368407,"titre":"Interplay between the DSA and the GDPR: EDPB adopts guidelines","url":"https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2025/interplay-between-dsa-and-gdpr-edpb-adopts-guidelines_en","source":"EDPB News"},{"description":"Background information Date of final decision: 15 May 2025 National case Controller:  SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES Legal Reference(s): Article 7 (Conditions for consent), Article 6 (Lawfulness of processing) Decision: administrative fine and an order to cease electronic commercial prospecting in the absence of valid consent, together with a penalty of €10 000 per day overdue after a period of 9 months Key words: administrative fine, consent,  unsolicited communication   Summary of the Decision Origin of the case   As the French Supervisory Authority (SA) made commercial prospecting a priority topic for investigations in 2022, it focused on the practices of professionals in the sector, particularly those who resell data, including the many intermediaries in this ecosystem known as data brokers. The French SA carried out investigations on SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES which got prospect data mainly from data brokers, publishers of game contests and product testing sites (these actors are the first links in the chain, the primary collectors, who are responsible for collecting prospect data). SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES used this data to operate commercial prospecting by SMS or e-mail to individuals concerned, on behalf of its advertiser customer. It may also pass on some of this data to its customers, so that they can carry out their own commercial prospecting by telephone or post. Key Findings  Failure to comply with the obligation to obtain the consent of individuals to receive commercial prospecting by electronic means (Article L.34-5 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code): The restricted committee considered that the misleading appearance of the forms used by data brokers made it impossible to obtain free and unambiguous consent, in compliance with the requirements of the GDPR, which would have formed the basis for the prospecting operations carried out by the company. Failure to demonstrate that the data subject has consented to processing of his or her personal data (Article 7 of the GDPR): The company failed to provide the French SA with proof of consent from individuals whose data has been transferred to it by one of its main suppliers. As a result, the French SA was unable to examine the collection forms used by this supplier and, therefore, the validity of the consent of the data subjects.   Decision  Based on the findings of the inspection, the restricted committee – the French SA body responsible for issuing sanctions – considered that the company had failed to comply with obligations under the French Post and Electronic Communications Code (CPCE) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding the collection and proof of consent.  It imposed on SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES:  a €900 000 fine which was made public; and an order to cease electronic commercial prospecting in the absence of valid consent, together with a penalty of €10 000 per day overdue after a period of 9 months.  The amount of this fine takes into account the very large number of people concerned (several million), the company's historical position on the market, the financial benefit derived from the breaches, and the measures taken by the company to comply with some of its obligations since the checks were carried out. For further information:  •  Courtiers en données : sanction de 900 000 euros à l’encontre de la société SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES (French) •  Data brokers: SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES fined €900,000  (English)","id":2170441,"pubDate":"Tue, 10 Jun 2025 09:51:20 +0200","titre":"The French SA fines SOLOCAL €900 000","url":"https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2025/french-sa-fines-solocal-eu900-000_en","source":"EDPB News"},{"source":"EDPB News","url":"https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2025/french-sa-fines-solocal-900-000-eu_en","titre":"The French SA fines SOLOCAL 900 000 €","id":2130472,"pubDate":"Wed, 21 May 2025 15:52:14 +0200","description":"Background information Date of final decision: 15 May 2025 National case Controller:  SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES Legal Reference(s): Article 7 (Conditions for consent), Article 6 (Lawfulness of processing) Decision: administrative fine and an order to cease electronic commercial prospecting in the absence of valid consent, together with a penalty of 10 000 € per day overdue after a period of 9 months Key words: administrative fine, consent,  unsolicited communication   Summary of the Decision Origin of the case   As the French Supervisory Authority (SA) made commercial prospecting a priority topic for investigations in 2022, it focused on the practices of professionals in the sector, particularly those who resell data, including the many intermediaries in this ecosystem known as data brokers. The French SA carried out investigations on SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES which got prospect data mainly from data brokers, publishers of game contests and product testing sites (these actors are the first links in the chain, the primary collectors, who are responsible for collecting prospect data). SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES used this data to operate commercial prospecting by SMS or e-mail to individuals concerned, on behalf of its advertiser customer. It may also pass on some of this data to its customers, so that they can carry out their own commercial prospecting by telephone or post. Key Findings  Failure to comply with the obligation to obtain the consent of individuals to receive commercial prospecting by electronic means (Article L.34-5 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code): The restricted committee considered that the misleading appearance of the forms used by data brokers made it impossible to obtain free and unambiguous consent, in compliance with the requirements of the GDPR, which would have formed the basis for the prospecting operations carried out by the company. Failure to demonstrate that the data subject has consented to processing of his or her personal data (Article 7 of the GDPR): The company failed to provide the French SA with proof of consent from individuals whose data has been transferred to it by one of its main suppliers. As a result, the French SA was unable to examine the collection forms used by this supplier and, therefore, the validity of the consent of the data subjects.   Decision  Based on the findings of the inspection, the restricted committee – the French SA body responsible for issuing sanctions – considered that the company had failed to comply with obligations under the French Post and Electronic Communications Code (CPCE) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding the collection and proof of consent.  It imposed on SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES:  a 900 000 € fine which was made public; and an order to cease electronic commercial prospecting in the absence of valid consent, together with a penalty of 10 000 € per day overdue after a period of 9 months.  The amount of this fine takes into account the very large number of people concerned (several million), the company's historical position on the market, the financial benefit derived from the breaches, and the measures taken by the company to comply with some of its obligations since the checks were carried out. For further information:  •   Courtiers en données : sanction de 900 000 euros à l’encontre de la société SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES (French) •   Data brokers: SOLOCAL MARKETING SERVICES fined €900,000  (English)"},{"url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-surveillance-pricing-study-indicates-wide-range-personal-data-used-set-individualized-consumer","source":"Federal Trade Commission Concurrence communiqués","description":"The Federal Trade Commission’s initial findings from its surveillance pricing market study revealed that details like a person’s precise location or browser history can be frequently used to target individual consumers with different prices for the same goods and services. The staff perspective is based on an examination of documents obtained by FTC staff’s 6(b) orders sent to  several companies in July aiming to better understand the shadowy market that third-party intermediaries use to set individualized prices for products and services based on consumers’ characteristics and behaviors, like location, demographics, browsing patterns and shopping history. Staff found that consumer behaviors ranging from mouse movements on a webpage to the type of products that consumers leave unpurchased in an online shopping cart can be tracked and used by retailers to tailor consumer pricing. “Initial staff findings show that retailers frequently use people’s personal information to set targeted, tailored prices for goods and services—from a person's location and demographics, down to their mouse movements on a webpage,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “The FTC should continue to investigate surveillance pricing practices because Americans deserve to know how their private data is being used to set the prices they pay and whether firms are charging different people different prices for the same good or service.” The FTC’s study of the 6(b) documents is still ongoing. The staff perspective is based on an initial analysis of documents provided by Mastercard, Accenture, PROS, Bloomreach, Revionics and McKinsey & Co. Image The FTC’s 6(b) study focuses on intermediary firms, which are the middlemen hired by retailers that can algorithmically tweak and target their prices. Instead of a price or promotion being a static feature of a product, the same product could have a different price or promotion based on a variety of inputs—including consumer-related data and their behaviors and preferences, the location, time, and channels by which a consumer buys the product, according to the perspective. The agency will only release information obtained from a 6(b) study as long as all data has been aggregated or anonymized to protect confidential trade secrets from company respondents, and therefore the staff perspective only includes hypothetical examples of surveillance pricing.  The staff perspective found that some 6(b) respondents can determine individualized and different pricing and discounts based on granular consumer data, like a cosmetics company targeting promotions to specific skin types and skin tones. The perspective also found that the intermediaries the FTC examined can show higher priced products based on consumers’ search and purchase activity. As one hypothetical outlined, a consumer who is profiled as a new parent may intentionally be shown higher priced baby thermometers on the first page of their search results. The FTC staff found that the intermediaries worked with at least 250 clients that sell goods or services ranging from grocery stores to apparel retailers. The FTC found that widespread adoption of this practice may fundamentally upend how consumers buy products and how companies compete. As the FTC continues its work in this area, it is issuing a request for information   today seeking public comment on consumers’ experiences with surveillance pricing. The RFI also asks for comments from businesses about whether surveillance pricing tools can lead to competitors gaining an unfair advantage, and whether gig workers or employees have been impacted by the use of surveillance pricing to determine their compensation. Comments are due by April 17. The Commission voted 3-2 to allow staff to issue the report. Commissioners Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak issued a dissenting statement related to the release of the initial research summaries. The FTC has additional resources on the interim","pubDate":"Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:51:48 +0200","id":2044739,"titre":"FTC Surveillance Pricing Study Indicates Wide Range of Personal Data Used to Set Individualized Consumer Prices"}]