The Federal Trade Commission announced a summer workshop today to examine the business models and consumer protection issues spawning from companies such as Airbnb and Uber — data-fueled home service firms and automated labor markets that comprise the sharing economy.
"We are seeing a dramatic growth in products and services that are built on peer-to-peer platforms, such as ride-sharing and property rentals, as more entrepreneurs harness the power of technology to reach more consumers," FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a statement. "The resulting business models have great potential to benefit our economy and consumers. Through our workshop, we want to better understand the competitive impact of these new business models, as well as their interactions with existing regulatory frameworks."
As with prior workshops under Chairwoman Ramirez, including ones investigating big data, mobile tracking, and the internet of things, this initiative exemplifies the Commission's focus on new technology markets and the novel challenges that data collection and digital labor present to competition and consumer protection. "It's about ensuring the agency has a full picture of the industry and what it entails when issues in those markets do arise," Jay Mayfield, a spokesperson for the FTC, told BuzzFeed News. Workshops such as this one often help the FTC gather information and opinion on a subject before issuing official regulations or reports.
The Commission has asked for public comment leading up to the workshop and intends to examine the following questions:
How can state and local regulators meet legitimate regulatory goals (such as protecting consumers, and promoting public health and safety) in connection with their oversight of sharing economy platforms and business models, without also restraining competition or hindering innovation?
How have sharing economy platforms affected competition, innovation, consumer choice, and platform participants in the sectors in which they operate? How might they in the future?
What consumer protection issues—including privacy and data security, online reviews and disclosures, and claims about earnings and costs—do these platforms raise, and who is responsible for addressing these issues?
What particular concerns or issues do sharing economy transactions raise regarding the protection of platform participants?
What responsibility does a sharing economy platform bear for consumer injury arising from transactions undertaken through the platform?
How effective are reputation systems and other trust mechanisms, such as the vetting of sellers, insurance coverage, or complaint procedures, in encouraging consumers and suppliers to do business on sharing economy platforms?
Estimates cited by the FTC predict the sharing economy will soon generate as much as $110 billion per year. The workshop will take place on June 9th.