Nonprofit group Consumer Education Foundation has filed a petition with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission asking the agency to explore if the use of surveillance scores constitutes “unfair or deceptive practices” under the FTC Act, Gizmodo reports. The petition identifies dozens of U.S. businesses known to use surveillance scores and 11 U.S.-based firms that provide the scores, as well as describing how as many as 121 analytics companies “categorize, grade, or assign a numerical value to a consumer based on the consumer’s estimated predicted behavior.” The foundation claims the data gathered from the scores is kept hidden with no option to appeal.
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