Internet Privacy Legislation in 2010 Explained

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.

Stuart D. Levi is co-head of Skadden’s Intellectual Property and Technology Group. He has a broad and diverse practice that includes outsourcing transactions, technology and intellectual property licensing, technology transfers, strategic alliances and joint ventures. Mr. Levi also counsels clients on a variety of issues, including Web site and technology policies, intellectual property matters, privacy issues and legislative compliance. His background in computer science and the information technology industry allows Mr. Levi to understand the technology and business drivers underlying agreements and transactions in this area. 

Erica Newland is a Policy Analyst at the Center for Democracy & Technology. She works in the Washington, DC office on policy issues related to consumer privacy and is a member of the Device API and Policy Working Group within the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Prior to joining CDT, Erica spent time in Beijing on a Richard U. Light Fellowship and, before that, at Microsoft Research Asia. Erica studied Applied Mathematics at Yale University.

J. Beckwith ("Becky") Burr is a partner in the firm's Regulatory and Government Affairs Department, and a member of the Communications, Privacy and Internet Law Practice Group and the Financial Institutions Practice Group. She joined the firm in 1989. Ms. Burr is a veteran of the Federal Trade Commission and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration. She has both a regulatory and transactional practice focused on e-commerce, information technology, intellectual property licensing, and international regulation of communications and information technology. 

As an Attorney-Advisor at the Federal Trade Commission (January 1995–June 1997), Ms. Burr was responsible for competition and consumer protection policy in connection with information industry/electronic information infrastructure. At the Commission, she participated in developing the FTC’s approach to competition, consumer protection, and privacy/data protection in the digital marketplace. 

At the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”), first as Senior Internet Policy Advisor (June 1997–December 1997) and subsequently as Associate Administrator and Director of International Affairs (December 1997–October 2000), Ms. Burr was responsible for the formulation, analysis, and implementation of Internet and information technology policy as well as international telecommunications and information technology policies. As the chief NTIA official in the Clinton Administration’s inter-agency task force on e-commerce, she was responsible for development and implementation of Administration policy on Internet governance and privacy and chaired the task force on privatization of the Internet domain name system.