Felten appointed chief technologist for FTC

The Federal Trade Commission has appointed computer science and Wilson School professor Edward Felten to a year-long post as its first chief technologist, the agency announced Thursday. Felten, who will help the FTC navigate technology policy issues, is also founding director of the University’s Center for Information Technology Policy.

Felten will assume his position in January, and computer science professor Margaret Martonosi will serve as acting director of CITP during his one-year leave of absence.

“Ed is extraordinarily respected in the technology community, and his background and knowledge make him an outstanding choice to serve as the agency’s first chief technologist,” FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement.

The FTC aims to protect consumers from fraudulent or unfair business practices, such as identity theft and false advertising. As chief technologist, Felten will advise the commission on its role in consumer protection and antitrust issues. Felten has served as a part-time policy consultant for the FTC since August, and he has advised the agency on a number of issues, including Internet privacy to e-mail spam.

Felten said the security of personal information online is a major priority, especially in the era of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

“It’s clear that people like social media, but they also do care about what type of information they are providing,” Felten said. “One of the missions of the FTC is protection of consumer privacy.”

Stephen Schultze, associate director of CITP, said in an e-mail that Felten’s background in intellectual property lawsuits, privacy research and cyber security analysis will be a valuable asset when he begins his post at the FTC.

“Ed is tremendously skilled not only at understanding technical issues in their entirety, but also at translating them into terms that policy makers can understand,” he explained.

After he serves his one-year term at the FTC, Felten said he thinks he will “be in a better position to teach about how policy really works.”

Schultze predicted that both CITP and Princeton students would benefit from Felten’s association with the FTC.

“We already connect students with high-profile D.C. internships and employment, and after his tenure at the FTC I imagine he will have even more ideas for how Princetonians can engage in D.C.,” he noted.

CITP, which is associated with both the Engineering School and the Wilson School, specializes in research on the intersection of public policy, technology, engineering and the social sciences. The center promotes discussion of digital technologies through campus events and the new undergraduate certificate in information technology and society.