Collection and Use of Consumer Information Focus of Upcoming FTC Workshop

The Federal Trade Commission will host a workshop on June 18, 2003, to address the issue of the costs and benefits to consumers and businesses of consumer information collection and use. It will explore how consumer information is collected and used by businesses to facilitate commercial transactions, as well as how it can be used to fight fraud. The workshop, titled, Information Flows: The Costs and Benefits to Consumers and Businesses of the Collection and Use of Consumer Information, will be held in the FTC Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC. It will be open to the public and preregistration will be required for the press. The detailed agenda is available at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/infoflows/030618agenda.html.

Panelists will discuss:

• The use of consumer information in credit transactions;
• Consumer information in customer relationship management and targeted marketing;
• Methodologies for identifying and measuring the costs and benefits of collecting consumer information; and
• Using consumer information to fight identity theft.

Panelists include business leaders, consumer advocates, financial experts, members of the academic community, and government officials.Detailed copies of the agenda, showing panel times and participants, is available at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/infoflows/030618agenda.html and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20850. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.