Understanding The Federal Trade Commission’s Proposed Framework for Consumer Privacy Protection

KANDI PARSONS is an attorney with the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection in Bureau of Consumer Protection, at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. Ms. Parsons investigates and prosecutes violations of U.S. federal laws governing the privacy and security of consumer information and has worked on the FTC’s enforcement actions under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Safeguards and Privacy Rules, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Before joining the Commission staff, Ms. Parsons was an associate with Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C., specializing in health care privacy. Ms. Parsons served as a law clerk to the Honorable John Steadman of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. She received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. in English from Columbia University

Fran Maier is the President and Executive Chair of the Board of TRUSTe. Fran has over 20 years of experience building consumer brands and enhancing consumer trust online. In her role as President, Fran’s operational responsibilities include oversight of TRUSTe’s brand and policy functions.Since joining TRUSTe in 2001, Fran has expanded TRUSTe’s brand with companies, regulators, and consumers. Fran was instrumental in the policy and product development of TRUSTe’s TRUSTed Download Program, TRUSTed Ads, and ongoing improvements to TRUSTe’s web privacy seal program. In 2008, under her leadership, TRUSTe secured significant investment capital and transformed from a non-profit industry association to a for-profit business.Earlier in her career, as a co-founder of Match.com, Fran established credibility, safety, and trust in online dating, making Match.com the leading online dating service. In executive marketing roles at Women.com and Kmart’s BlueLight.com subsidiary, Fran both established online start-up brands and brought blue-chip offline brands onto the Internet.Fran speaks and writes widely on issues of online privacy, security, and trust and frequently represents TRUSTe in front of domestic and foreign regulatory audiences, including the Federal Trade Commission, Congressional committees, and foreign data protection commissioners.In 2009, Fran won a Stevie Award for Women in Business for Best Executive in the category of Service Businesses with less than 100 employees. In 2010, AlwaysOn named Fran among the Top 25 Women in Tech to Watch in Silicon Valley. She is active in mentoring women in technology and serves on a number of internet and trust-related advisory boards. Fran holds a BA and MBA from Stanford University.

Aaron Brauer-Rieke is the Ron Plesser Fellow at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) where he focuses on consumer privacy and internet identity.Prior to joining CDT, Aaron worked as a law clerk at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he focused on patent and digital media litigation. Aaron also interned with the ACLU of Northern California, where he focused on privacy, free speech, and emerging technology issues.Aaron earned his J.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where he served as the Senior Online Editor of the California Law Review, an Editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal, and a Fellow with the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. Prior to law school, Aaron worked as web developer and digital media specialist. Aaron graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy from Pacific Lutheran University.

Colin leads Evidon’s strategy and policy teams, and spear-headed the Design Partner Program, which included agency holding companies, advertisers, networks and associations. An expert in privacy matters, he was the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Programs at TRUSTe from 2003 to 2009, where he developed and launched self-regulatory programs for email (Bonded Sender Program, Email Privacy Seal) and Software (Trusted Download Program). Execution across these programs drove the transition of TRUSTe to for-profit status and an A-Round from Accel Partners.Earlier he was the Manager of Product Development at NetCreations from 1999 to 2002. Colin is a published author and has a BS in Economics and Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University.