Earlier today, Senior Fellow and former Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Sam Levine testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law about the harms that emerging technologies pose to consumers’ privacy and personal information. The hearing, “Protecting the Virtual You: Safeguarding American’s Online Data,” touched on tech privacy threats that Americans face absent any commonsense regulatory guardrails—from the use of sensitive personal data by healthcare providers and targeted advertisers, to the proliferation of online scams, to the increasing adoption of AI in everyday life. In his testimony, Sam particularly described the threat of practices like surveillance pricing and unchecked data harvesting to economic fairness, democratic freedoms, and the health and safety of kids and teens. Berkeley Law student and former co-leader of the Consumer Advocacy and Protection Society and Consumer Protection Public Policy Order Abby Smith ‘26 helped Sam prepare his testimony.
A video recording of the testimony is available for viewing.