I was never good with budgets, but damned if I can figure out FTC’s budget request to Congress for Fiscal 2016. Is it seeking funds to expand the number of data security enforcement cases it undertakes or is the budget based on simply maintaining the current level(s)?
So when @FTC didn’t respond to my tweeted inquiry, I emailed the FTC’s press office and put the question to them.
And they wouldn’t answer it. They just pointed me back to the same budget proposal that I couldn’t make sense of in the first place, highlighting statements that were so vague as to be unhelpful.
In frustration, I wrote back:
I had already read the budget request before contacting you. I really can’t tell from the request if the FTC is seeking funds to expand its data security enforcement program in the U.S. or just maintain the current levels. There have been repeated calls for more enforcement – and complaints by privacy advocates that the FTC doesn’t handle enough cases given the number of breaches each year. I’m trying to figure out whether if this budget is approved, privacy advocates can expect to see more data security enforcement cases undertaken in 2016.
Can’t the FTC answer that question directly?
Their answer:
No, I’m afraid we can’t, because the FTC categorically does not comment on investigations. That includes ongoing investigations and investigations that may be taken in the future.
Am I crazy, or is it ridiculous that a federal agency won’t provide a straight answer as to whether a budget request will increase one of its activities or not?
Maybe someone in Congress will put the question to them so that we can find out.