Newer Slate Complicates Things at FTC, Members Say; They Seek Privacy Law
The newly reconstituted FTC, with five commissioners, has been a challenge for staff and the FTC bar, Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Christine Wilson said during a panel Tuesday. “We’re coming in, we’re asking different questions,” Slaughter said: “All of…
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us in different ways are challenging the status quo, how the agency has been doing things, which is good, that’s how we’re supposed to be doing things. … But that also can be challenging for the staff.” Wilson agreed. “For staff it has been a significant adjustment,” she said, noting there were only two members for a long time. “Suddenly, you have five commissioners who are asking a lot of questions,” she said. “It’s especially noticeable in the recommendation memos that come up,” she said: “The questions that I was asking at the beginning are not answered proactively.” The two agreed on the importance of a federal privacy law. The FTC needs more resources, Slaughter said. “The FTC has a budget of just around $300 million” and fewer employees now than 40 years ago, she said: “Compared with the growth of our enforcement mandate, we can’t possibly can’t do all the things we need to do with the resources that we have.” The agency also needs additional authority, Slaughter said. “Federal privacy legislation would be a good thing.” When the California and European laws took effect, “it made very clear that we do need federal privacy legislation because interoperability matters,” Wilson said. “Are we creating an environment in which U.S. companies can operate in this global economy … and how do you facilitate data flows?” Businesses need predictability and clarity and consumers need more transparency on what data is collected and how it’s used, she said.