The FTC enforces federal consumer protection and privacy laws that prevent fraud, deception, unfair business practices, and keep consumers’ personal information secure. The Office of International Affairs works with foreign counterparts to pursue companies abroad that have harmed U.S. consumers. Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other foreign consumer protection agencies are created to affirm the capacity and willingness to work together, as well as the intention to share information and to assist one another in consumer protection investigations.
U.S. SAFE WEB Act
The FTC uses the U.S. SAFE WEB Act, which allows the FTC to share investigative material and issue compulsory process on behalf of foreign consumer protection counterparts. This legislation has strengthened the FTC’s ability to cooperate with foreign authorities.
The U.S. SAFE WEB Act and the FTC’s Fight Against Cross-Border Fraud
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The FTC takes in reports from consumers about problems they experience in the marketplace from various sources, including econsumer.gov. These reports are stored in the Consumer Sentinel Network (Sentinel), a secure online database available only to law enforcement. While the FTC does not intervene in individual consumer disputes, its law enforcement partners – whether they are down the street, across the nation, or around the world – can use information in the database to spot trends, identify questionable business practices and targets, and enforce the law.
Ransomware Report
The FTC plays an important role in protecting the public against ransomware and other cyber-related attacks, complementing the work of other U.S. government agencies in the greater fight against these threats.
International Data Transfers
Our international work in the privacy area complements the FTC’s domestic enforcement and advances U.S. cross-border trade. One of those systems is the Data Privacy Framework which allows companies to transfer personal data from the European Union to the United States in a manner consistent with EU law. The FTC also enforces the Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules which support the free flow of data and effective data protection and privacy.