{"id":7134,"date":"2024-02-15T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/?p=7134"},"modified":"2024-02-15T14:27:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T19:27:17","slug":"ftc-proposes-new-protections-to-combat-ai-impersonation-of-individuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-proposes-new-protections-to-combat-ai-impersonation-of-individuals\/","title":{"rendered":"FTC Proposes New Protections to Combat AI Impersonation of Individuals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking that would prohibit the impersonation of individuals. The proposed rule changes would extend protections of the new rule on government and business impersonation that is being finalized by the Commission today.<\/p>\n

The agency is taking this action in light of surging complaints<\/a> around impersonation fraud, as well as public outcry about the harms caused to consumers and to impersonated individuals. Emerging technology \u2013 including AI-generated deepfakes \u2013 threatens to turbocharge this scourge, and the FTC is committed to using all of its tools to detect, deter, and halt impersonation fraud.<\/p>\n

The Commission is also seeking comment on whether the revised rule should declare it unlawful for a firm, such as an AI platform that creates images, video, or text, to provide goods or services that they know or have reason to know is being used to harm consumers through impersonation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFraudsters are using AI tools to impersonate individuals with eerie precision and at a much wider scale. With voice cloning and other AI-driven scams on the rise, protecting Americans from impersonator fraud is more critical than ever,\u201d said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. \u201cOur proposed expansions to the final impersonation rule would do just that, strengthening the FTC\u2019s toolkit to address AI-enabled scams impersonating individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking is being issued in response to comments received during the public comment period on the government and business impersonation rule that pointed to the additional threats and harms posed by impersonation of individuals. As scammers find new ways to defraud consumers, including through AI-generated deepfakes, this proposal will help the agency deter fraud and secure redress for harmed consumers.<\/p>\n

Final Rule on Government and Business Impersonation<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to the supplemental notice, the FTC has finalized the Government and Business Impersonation Rule, which gives the agency stronger tools to combat scammers who impersonate businesses or government agencies, enabling the FTC to directly file federal court cases aimed at forcing scammers to return the money they made from government or business impersonation scams. This is particularly important given the Supreme Court\u2019s April 2021 ruling in AMG Capital Management LLC v. FTC<\/a>, which significantly limited the agency\u2019s ability to require defendants to return money to injured consumers.<\/p>\n

Government and business impersonation scams have cost consumers billions of dollars in recent years, and both categories saw significant increases in reports to the FTC in 2023. The rule authorizes the agency to fight these scams more effectively.<\/p>\n

For example, the rule would enable the FTC to directly seek monetary relief in federal court from scammers that:<\/p>\n