The US doesn't have a privacy law? Really? Verizon to pay $7.4 million over failure to notify consumers on privacy rights

At privacy gatherings, I often hear that Canada and the European Union have serious privacy laws, while the United States is somehow on the lawless fringe (other than sectoral laws like HIPAA). That's far from the case, as the Federal Trade Commission has taken a small portion of the Federal Trade Commission Act and 33 other statutory instruments to enforce a pretty broad privacy regime in the US. Case in point: Today's $7.4 million settlement with Verizon over the omission to include a privacy brochure in the with the first bills of 2 million customers. (See: Verizon to pay $7.4 million over failure to notify consumers on privacy rights | Reuters).