In a CES conversation with Consumer Technology Association Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs Rachel Nemeth, FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter discussed the Commission’s work on AI-enabled impersonation fraud, privacy, and right of repair. Taking the stage just after FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, Slaughter said she wanted to co-sign his plea for “full visibility of the work we do.” “We have responsibility to all Americans to make sure they are represented in the substance of the work we do,” she said. “The same is true for industries that want to reach all Americans.”

To Nemeth’s query about the FTC’s upcoming rulemaking on impersonation fraud, Slaughter demurred, noting that, “this is an ongoing proceeding so I can’t talk about it in detail.” But she continued that the FTC “cannot make illegal practices that are otherwise legal.”

“What we can do is provide clarity about the contours of the laws which we enforce,” she explained. “That way, honest businesses will have a better way of knowing how to comply with the law and less honest ones are deterred since violating the law brings financial implications, not just an injunction.”

Regarding generative AI, “we are on the precipice of a huge explosion in innovation,” Slaughter suggested.

“Our job is to think about how to unleash those benefits while limiting the downside risks that can take hold when a new exciting tech comes to market,” she said. “We’re particularly cautious that companies are actually doing what they say with their product does. False claims liability has been the FTC’s bread & butter for a long time.”

Because artificial intelligence “runs on huge amounts of personal data,” said Slaughter, “we want to make sure companies are adequately protecting that data and not creating security risks.”

Third is competition. “The FTC wants the potential of this technology to not be limited by a few gatekeepers,” she noted. “We want innovation to grow in the market.”

Slaughter also spoke on the current patchwork of state laws governing privacy. “For a long time I’ve been an advocate of federal privacy laws for uniform standards and a baseline of protection,” she said. “There’s no reason to have more protection in California than Kansas.” She added that the more states that pass privacy laws “incentivizes federal conformity.”

Last week the FTC published a request for comment on rulemaking on repair. “The repair policy landscape is one of those great issues that lands squarely in our consumer protection and competition jurisdictions,” said Slaughter, referring to a unanimous bipartisan report on the topic.

“It’s hard for consumers to get the most out of the products they bought and for companies — from tractors to smartphones — to compete.” “The ability to have control over the purchases you make and manage the things you own is about autonomy and dignity”