FTC's Power to Sue Over Data Security Upheld

The Federal Trade Commission has the authority to sue companies that neglect to secure their customers' data, U.S. District Judge Esther Sales of New Jersey ruled this week, according to a report in the National Journal. " If the court had sided with Wyndham [Hotels], it would have stripped the federal government of oversight of data security practices just as hackers begin to pull off more and more high-profile attacks," the Journal further reports. Wyndham argued that weak data security practices aren't an unfair business practice, which the FTC is authorized to regulate.