BBB National Programs Blog

The NTIA’s recent request for comment focuses on a lesser documented angle in the public discourse: the role of soft law mechanisms to supplement the enforcement objectives of federal agencies. These accountability mechanisms – including compliance certifications, audits, and third-party verification practices – can serve as a policy solution to further the goals of the White House’s national strategy on AI.

Substantiating product claims is required by law and may help brands avoid an inquiry from the FTC or other regulatory bodies. The founders of The Benchmarking Company, a consumer research firm for the beauty and personal care industries, interviewed NAD attorney Jennifer Santos to uncover what every brand should know about NAD.

This piece includes a list of routine examples of consumer health information, that, at face value may have one level of risk. But, depending on the context and the risk associated with the use of that data, and whether it is combined with other data sources and data elements or made available in the public domain, it could lend itself to differing levels of regulation and enforcement activity.

While momentum continues to build around what a regulated consumer health privacy landscape looks like, the environment remains shrouded in shades of gray. To date, a risk-based approach to consumer health data does not exist, but we believe a sliding scale for the risks carried by consumer health data should.

The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 went into effect bringing new privacy rights to California consumers and created the California Privacy Protection Agency. CCPA will continue to be enforced by the California Office of the Attorney General. Which begs the question: Whose enforcement is it anyway?

The U.S. economy is built on a fair and transparent product marketplace. It is the responsibility of companies to have adequate substantiation for health and safety claims and to hold their competitors to the same standard.

An appropriate federal privacy law would level the playing field for all companies and create much-needed uniformity in the digital marketplace to enable enhanced trust in the marketplace for businesses and consumers.

It can be challenging for us nonprofit leaders to delve into new areas of organizational growth and opportunity, such as determining what government actions are important to our organizations. The key question is: When and how should you engage with the government as a nonprofit leader?

Governor Jay Inslee signed the My Health, My Data Act in the state of Washington, setting an important precedent about how to legislate consumer health data in the U.S. Here are some components of this legislation worth your attention.

With increasing consumer interest in buying environmentally friendly products, this Earth Day is a good time to consider how the standards for “green” claims in advertising have developed, and, more importantly, where they might be heading.