The Limits of Notice and Choice

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has embarked on a series of three workshops on exploring privacy. The first, in December 2009 in Washington, DC, focused on market and regulatory issues; the second, in January in Berkeley, California, examined technological issues; and the third, scheduled for March in Washington again, will focus on possible solutions. But after hearing from more than 70 speakers at two standing-room only workshops, at least one theme is emerging: notice and choice are inadequate tools for protecting information privacy or security.