The US Federal Commerce Fee on Friday launched a brand new Workplace of Know-how to strengthen its capability to “totally grasp” quickly altering applied sciences within the digital market and help its coverage and legislation enforcement efforts.
“The Workplace of Know-how will increase the FTC’s experience to assist the company obtain its mission of defending shoppers and selling competitors,” the company stated in a launch.
The workplace plans to help FTC investigations into enterprise practices and their related applied sciences; present technological experience on coverage and analysis initiatives; and spotlight market developments that have an effect on its work.
The brand new workplace might be led by Chief Know-how Officer Stephanie Nguyen. Although the main target of the workplace is know-how, Nguyen instructed The Washington Put up it’s going to additionally take a look at broader sectors of the financial system.
The brand new workplace displays the FTC’s efforts in recent times to tackle giant tech corporations, equivalent to Amazon, Apple, Fb, Google and Microsoft. Earlier this month, the FTC fined GoodRX $1.5 million over allegations that the digital well being firm shared customers’ information with firms like Fb and Google with out the customers’ consent (an assertion the corporate pushed again at). The FTC has additionally challenged current large-scale tech acquisitions, like Microsoft’s Activision deal, which the fee contends might hurt competitors.
“For greater than a century, the FTC has labored to maintain tempo with new markets and ever-changing applied sciences by constructing inner experience,” FTC Chair Lina Khan stated within the launch. “Our workplace of know-how is a pure subsequent step in guaranteeing we’ve the in-house abilities wanted to completely grasp evolving applied sciences and market developments as we proceed to deal with illegal enterprise practices and defend People.”