Consumer Protection Experts Don't Foresee Much Change With Departure of FTC's Rich
Jessica Rich, who has headed the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection since 2013, will resign Feb. 17 after more than a quarter century at the agency, said the commission in a Tuesday news release. The FTC didn't comment on a replacement. Consumer protection experts don't expect much of a change in the agency's enforcement mission, though one consumer advocate fears it will be curtailed under President Donald Trump's administration.
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Georgetown University Law School professor David Vladeck, who headed the consumer protection bureau from 2009 through 2012, said most bureau directors time their departure with the FTC chair's departure. "That's what I did. And that was what Jessica had long planned -- well before the election," he emailed. Rich was appointed by then-Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, who herself is leaving the commission Friday. He called Rich's stint as bureau director an "unqualified success," including sharpening the FTC's technological expertise, developing privacy and security policies and breaking new ground with cases.
But Vladeck said he didn't think that FTC Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen's philosophy of pursuing real vs. speculative harms (see 1702020020 and 1701230043) would be an issue. "My view is that ... Ohlhausen will continue to carry out the agency's statutory mission to 'prevent . . . unfair or deceptive acts or practices,' as she has done in the past, even where the 'harms' or threat of harms to consumers were not financial," he said. Ohlhausen has "worked diligently to protect consumers" in her long tenure with the commission, he said.
Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester said Rich's departure raises major concerns about the commission's future under Trump. "We fear that the agency will retreat from its central consumer-protection mission, by weakening the standards for regulatory safeguards, failing to address new cases brought to the agency, and ignoring the growing arsenal of disturbing Big Data practices that pose far-reaching threats to the public’s privacy, health, and security," he said in a statement. "At this critical moment, the agency must demonstrate courage and independence, standing up for consumer rights, and resisting any efforts to force a retreat from its public interest mandate."
Rich's departure is a "huge loss" in terms of institutional knowledge and expertise, John Breyault, National Consumers League vice president-public policy, telecom and fraud, emailed, but it's "too soon to say whether her departure means that the FTC will bring more or fewer cases." He doesn't see the dynamic changing much as long as the next director comes from consumer protection circles and expected Ohlhausen would name such an advocate. He said consumer protection at the FTC was enhanced during Republican-led commissions. But he said it's unclear how long Ohlhausen will remain acting chairman, saying it's possible Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes could be named to head the agency (see 1701170027). Former FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright also has been floated as a possible head of the agency.
"It's a safe bet that regardless of who leads the FTC, the Commission will rely more on the Bureau of Economics and look for cases where there is tangible consumer harm in its decisions to brings cases or not," said Breyault. "Another factor weighing on this is how much more authority the FTC gets on things like broadband privacy if the common carrier exemption gets lifted or if the various process reform bills pending in Congress shift more responsibility from the FCC to the FTC (which we oppose, for what it's worth)." Last year, the House introduced legislation that, among several changes, would have curtailed the commission's enforcement authority through consent decrees (see 1607140051).
Rich oversaw eight consumer protection divisions and as many regional offices charged with protecting Americans' privacy and from fraud and deception. She filled various roles throughout the agency including in the Financial Practices, and Privacy and Identity Protection, divisions. She also led efforts to create the Office of Technology Research and Investigations and helped develop policy reports on big data, cross-device tracking, data brokers, IoT and mobile apps.
“We are grateful to Jessica for her many years of service to the FTC and the public,” said Ohlhausen in a news release. “She is a pioneer in consumer protection who spearheaded major initiatives regarding consumers’ privacy, data security, and financial transactions. Many of the FTC’s programs bear her indelible mark.”