Washington, DC - The FTC keeps its finger on the pulse of markets, channeling its resources to protect consumers from deceptive and unfair practices involving new technologies. A few years ago, we created the Mobile Technology Unit to help bring consumer protection into the mobile era. Staffers assist the Bureau of Consumer Protection and FTC regions with law enforcement investigations and lend their expertise to the development of consumer protection policy.

The Kids App Privacy Reports, the Mobile Shopping Report, and the Healthcare App Snapshot presented at the Consumer Generated and Controlled Health Data workshop are just a few examples.

Today, I am pleased to announce the Bureau of Consumer Protection’s newest initiative to help ensure that consumers enjoy the benefits of technological progress without being placed at risk of deceptive and unfair practices – the formation of BCP’s Office of Technology Research and Investigation. The OTRI will continue the great work performed by the Mobile Technology Unit, but will take on an even broader mandate and be staffed with additional technologists. Our Chief Technologist has a blog post on our recruitment efforts.

New consumer technologies are coming online daily – and BCP’s OTRI will make sure that the FTC is protecting consumers in emerging marketplaces.