U.S. panel votes to approve $1 billion for FTC privacy probes

[September 15, 2021]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee voted on Tuesday to give the Federal Trade Commission $1 billion to set up a bureau dedicated to improving data security and privacy and fighting identity theft.

The proposal, which Democrats included in a $3.5 trillion spending measure, would fund a new bureau over 10 years to address "unfair or deceptive acts or practices relating to privacy, data security, identity theft, data abuses, and related matters," according to a summary released by the panel.

The committee began work on the wide-ranging spending proposal on Monday and was continuing to work on Tuesday evening.

The FTC, which enforces antitrust law, has picked up the job of pushing corporations to better protect consumer data and privacy as it enforces rules against deceptive practices.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Richard Chang)

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