FTC's Brill Stepping Down May Clear Way for Full Commission
The departure at month's end of FTC Commissioner Julie Brill, described as an influential and staunch privacy and consumer protection advocate with international standing, may rejuvenate political will behind giving the agency its full five members, privacy lawyers said in interviews Tuesday. Brill will join Hogan Lovells as a partner and co-director of the privacy and cybersecurity practice. There will be two open seats -- one Democratic and one Republican -- which some said might spur the Obama administration and Senate to act on nominations
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Current and former colleagues, lawmakers and privacy advocates praised Brill for her expertise and advocacy work in privacy and consumer protection. Brill, a Democrat, was sworn in April 6, 2010, and her term would have expired in September. Over the past several months, she has been outspoken about getting the new trans-Atlantic data transfer framework with the EU, which is now called Privacy Shield (see 1602040018). FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez praised Bill, in a statement Tuesday. Brill had no comment.
Former White House privacy czar Peter Swire said it might be easier for the administration and Congress to act on filling commission vacancies since both a Democratic and a Republican seat will be open. Swire is now a Georgia Institute of Technology professor.
TechFreedom President Berin Szoka thinks the administration and Senate will be more likely to act to fill the FTC vacancies. "The reason they hadn't acted" to fill Republican Joshua Wright's seat "was the lack of a Democrat to pair his replacement with," said Szoka. He said the "obvious choice" would have been pairing Wright's open seat with the renomination of FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat (see 1603020056). But now Brill's departure improves the chance of replacing Wright, he said. "If the Senate and the president can't now move a pair of replacements for the two of them, then Washington really is broken," Szoka said. "This doesn't change the balance of power. It's just an opportunity to put smart commissioners there on both sides." The White House didn't comment.
International Association of Privacy Professionals Vice President Omer Tene was more wary on whether the administration and Senate would act on the open FTC seats, citing the political climate. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, and ranking member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., issued laudatory statements on Brill's departure.
Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester said consumer groups will expect Brill to change how her clients do business "where -- despite lip service to the contrary -- privacy is viewed as an impediment to success in the marketplace. Whether Julie Brill can survive as a privacy Wallenda is too early to tell." But he said she has "the skills to walk the privacy tightrope." Nicol Turner-Lee, vice president with Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, said Brill has been particularly insightful about the effect of deceptive practices on more vulnerable populations."
Wright, who left the FTC in August, emailed us that Brill's legacy "will be one of zealous and tireless advocacy for consumer protection within the agency but also internationally. I cannot think of another non-Chair commissioner who had as impactful a tenure as she did on the FTC's policy and enforcement activities relating to privacy, data security, and consumer protection more generally. While Julie and I did not always agree on the right answers to difficult questions of law and policy, she was always thoughtful, and a pleasure to be around."