Washington, DC - The Federal Trade Commission will host a one-day conference in Seattle on February 9, 2016, on how companies can build security into their products and services. The event will have a particular focus on guidance for startups and early stage businesses about how to make security considerations a part of a company’s culture from the start.

FTC Commissioner Julie Brill will provide opening remarks for the conference, which will be the third “Start with Security” event nationwide. The conference will bring together experts in data security to provide guidance to businesses.

The conference will take place at the University of Washington School of Law, and is co-sponsored by the University of Washington Tech Policy Lab and the University of Washington School of Law’s Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic. A full agenda will be made available in the weeks leading up to the conference.

In addition to holding conferences around the country, the FTC has created extensive new business education materials to help companies think about how to incorporate strong security practices.

The business guidance lays out ten key steps to effective data security drawn from the alleged facts in the FTC’s data security cases and is designed to provide an easy way for companies to understand the lessons learned from those previous cases. Available as a guidebook and a series of videos, the guidance includes references to the cases, as well as plain-language explanations of the security principles at play.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).