FTC Launches PCI Probe. Ruh-Roh

On Monday (March 7), the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched a government investigation of PCI, zeroing in on potentially excessive charges, inconsistency in enforcement and rampant conflicts of interest. As famed QSA Scooby Doo would have said, "Ruh-roh."

None of this is news to the FTC and it's part of the reason for the investigation, which FTC is officially calling a study. "We have heard these issues," said David Lincicum, an FTC attorney in the division of privacy and identity protection, who is the lead attorney on the study and is also managing the study. "We go into this looking to get information, to get some details about what the interactions look like."