Federal Trade Commission members to testify before Senate panel

The members of the Federal Trade Commission are heading up to Capitol Hill.

The Senate Commerce Committee will host a hearing next week featuring the commission’s chairwoman, Edith Ramirez, as well as Commissioners Maureen Ohlhausen and Terrell McSweeny.

{mosads}The committee reported that the the hearing “will have a broad scope covering every aspect of the agency and major policy issues before the commission.” There are only three commissioners testifying, rather than a full slate of five, because two previous commissioners have resigned in a little over a year.

Proceedings at the agency are generally kept fairly quiet until they are resolved. But the commission, one of the top consumer protection regulators in the country, has examined questions related to disclosures and ransomware, among other issues.

The FTC is also a player in an ongoing debate around whether the Federal Communications Commission should institute new privacy rules covering broadband providers.

The internet service providers say that they think that the FTC’s standard — which prohibits unfair and deceptive practices — should be applied by the FCC. But advocates for stricter rules say that they are necessary because the internet service providers have a much broader view of a consumer’s web traffic. Those rules could come up for a vote as early as October.

The FTC also weighed in on the ongoing debate at the FCC over proposed rules to open up the market for television set-top boxes.