What FTC v. Wyndham Means For You

Since June 2012, Wyndham Hotels has been the focus of an FTC complaint alleging that the company acted unfairly when it failed to provide reasonable measures to secure customer data. Keep in mind that Wyndham had suffered three data breaches in two years, and according to the complaint, those breach failures resulted in millions of dollars of fraudulent charges on consumers’ credit and debit cards.

In the end, a federal court made the decision to endorse the FTC’s power to hold companies accountable if they fail to provide “reasonable protections” and cybersecurity measures. This move was seen as good news for consumer privacy, but how does this impact other industries where privacy is paramount?

I was recently asked by the Association of Corporate Council (ACC) to weigh in on the implications of this decision for healthcare.

While the United States is somewhat known for not having the data privacy sophistication that many other nations have, we are starting to see growth in privacy oversight in the United States due to this decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Wyndham Worldwide Corporation. Furthermore, healthcare companies have long been held to a higher standard when it comes to privacy and now cybersecurity.

To read more on the FTC decision, privacy and healthcare, read the full blog post here, and pick up a few easy recommendations to help ensure online security and privacy.