FTC's ?"Measuring Consumer Injuries And Benefits" Workshop: Key Takeaways

On February 26, 2026, the FTC convened a full-day workshop titled "Measuring Consumer Injuries and Benefits" featuring opening remarks from Chairman Ferguson and five academic panels. The workshop reflected the FTC's embrace of empirically driven quantitative assessments of consumer harms and benefits in its privacy and data security enforcement program. At the same time, recent security cases reaffirm that the Commission continues to view unfairness as an appropriate basis for enforcement, even where consumer injury cannot be precisely quantified. Here's what we learned.

Chairman Ferguson Signals Evidence-Based Enforcement

Chairman Andrew Ferguson opened with two central questions: "How do we value data?" and "How do we make enforcement decisions that will survive judicial review?" These framing questions, coupled with panel discussions throughout the day, suggest the Commission will continue to prioritize enforcement actions supported by demonstrable and quantifiable consumer