Jenna Greene reports:
The Federal Trade Commission this week was sued for refusing to turn over information about how the agency decides to bring data security cases.
The Freedom of Information Act suit by Philip Reitinger, a former Department of Homeland Security official who is now president of a cybersecurity company, comes as the FTC defends its role as data security cop in two ongoing cases.
“The FTC’s data security activity has increased in recent years and is likely to continue to do so,” wrote Reitinger’s lawyers, Steptoe & Johnson LLP partners Michael Baratz and Stewart Baker, in the complaint.
The FTC’s response to their FOIA request will likely irritate a number of people. As Greene reports:
In refusing Reitinger’s request for internal documents about data security enforcement, the FTC claimed FOIA exemption 5, asserting that all the material is protected by the “deliberative-process privilege.” It also said that FOIA Exemption 7(E) applied, alleging that the documents are also law enforcement guidelines, and that their disclosure could “reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law.”
Well, if you want compliance, wouldn’t it make sense to to make the guidelines not only public, but loudly public, to foster greater compliance?
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