FTC Advises Save This Date

The Federal Trade Commission will host three days of public hearings to examine how evolving technology will shape and change the habits, opportunities and challenges of consumers and businesses in the coming decade. The event will bring together experts from business, government and technology sectors, consumer advocates, academicians, and law enforcement officials to examine technologies that have emerged and to explore technologies that are currently evolving. The public hearings, “Protecting Consumers in the Next Tech-ade,” will be held November 6-8 in The George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC, and will be free and open to the public. Examples of new technologies will be on display during the hearings. On November 9, the FTC will invite law enforcers and other government officials to a non-public meeting to examine the implications emerging technologies will have for consumer education and consumer protection in the coming decade.

An agenda for the hearings will be published soon. Topics to be addressed at the hearings will include, but are not limited to:

• The Changing Nature of Consumer Products
  
• Mobile Devices and Marketing
  
• Data Security and Privacy
  
• Convergence
  
• The Evolving Internet
  
• Payment Systems and Trends
  
• Advertising and Marketing Trends
  
• Demographic Shifts

For further information, visit http://www.ftc.gov/techade.

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 in English or Spanish, 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/ftc/complaint.htm. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.