DEMS ASK FTC FOR BUDGET WISHLIST

Democratic House leaders are asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) if it needs more resources to adequately protect people’s privacy and data amid growing concerns about the government’s ability to police Silicon Valley.

In a letter, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who leads the committee’s consumer protection subpanel, asked FTC Chairman Joseph Simons how his agency would be more proactive with dramatic increases to its budget.

Citing a string of privacy incidents at major tech companies in the past year, the Democrats said they “believe that legislation is needed to protect the privacy of our constituents and that the FTC must have additional resources and authority to meet these 21st century challenges.”

The FTC did not immediately respond when asked for comment. Last week, the agency submitted a budget request to Congress of $312 million — an increase of just $6 million.

Pallone and Schakowsky posed three budget scenarios — an additional $50 million, $75 million or $100 million — and asked Simons what the agency would do with each potential increase.

The FTC is charged with policing Silicon Valley’s handling of user data, and many observers believe that the small agency has neither the resources nor the legal authority to adequately enforce the law on the nation’s biggest corporate behemoth