FTC Responds to Wyndham’s Motion to Dismiss, Asks Court to Reject Arguments

The US Federal Trade Commission has filed an official response to the motion to dismiss submitted by Wyndham representatives in the case in which the hotels and resorts chain is accused of failing to secure its customers’ private details.

“In its motion, Wyndham abandons any pretense of meeting the 12(b)(6) standard and, instead, uses its brief as a platform to advance meritless theories attacking the FTC’s longstanding use of the authority granted to it by Congress to protect consumers against unfair and deceptive practices. These arguments should be rejected by the Court,” the FTC argued.

According to the court document, provided by DataBreaches.net, the FTC highlights why each one of Wyndham’s arguments – designed to tests the sufficiency of the complaint’s allegations – is erroneous.

The agency has explained why it has the authority to pursue an unfair practices claim related to data security, why unfairness actions related to data security don’t require rulemaking, and why injury resulting from an incident that involved payment cards is enough to pursue claims.