President
Bedoya, a privacy law expert who leads the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown’s law school, would replace FTC Commissioner
Bedoya would bolster the commission’s expertise in privacy and data security, which is increasingly becoming one of its high-profile responsibilities in addition to antitrust enforcement. The agency in 2019
FTC Chair
Privacy advocates cheered the news of Bedoya’s nomination. Tech policy organization Public Knowledge called him a “fierce advocate for consumer privacy” and applauded his work showing that surveillance and facial-recognition technology can have disparate impacts on people of color. Bedoya was one of the authors of a 2016 report on the use of facial-recognition technology by police departments and the risks posed to privacy and civil liberties.
“He’s blazed a trail in holding big tech accountable and has spent his career fighting on behalf of the powerless, particularly those in immigrant communities,” Charlotte Slaiman, Public Knowledge’s competition policy director, said in a statement.
Before joining Georgetown, Bedoya, a naturalized citizen born in Peru, was the chief counsel for the
Bedoya said on Twitter that it’s “the honor of my life” to be nominated.
Chopra is still awaiting Senate confirmation after his nomination moved out of the Senate Banking Committee in March on a split, party-line vote.
To contact the reporters on this story:
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Jon Morgan, John Harney
© 2021 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
To read more articles log in.
Learn more about a Bloomberg Law subscription.