This Tuesday, June 1, 2010, marks the official deadline for compliance with the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags Rule. The deadline for enforcement of the Red Flags Rule has been delayed repeatedly since its original deadline in November 2008, but the FTC has remained silent on further delays since it announced the current deadline in October of last year.
The FTC’s Red Flags Rule is a set of regulations that require financial institutions and creditors to adopt written identity theft prevention programs. The FTC sparked considerable controversy when it announced that the Rule applies broadly to a range of businesses unused to being subjected to financial industry regulation (i.e., any individual or company that bills its customers after it provides goods or services). As a result, a number of industry groups have filed lawsuits to challenge the FTC’s application of the Red Flags Rules to lawyers, accountants and, most recently, medical professionals.
As Tuesday approaches, we look to the FTC to announce whether the agency is ready to begin enforcement of the Red Flags Rule.