Sam Levine

Sam Levine Speaks about Protections for MLM Workers

August 20, 2025

Sam Levine spoke about the FTC's authority to protect Multilevel Marketing (MLM) workers at the Annual Multilevel Marketing Conference in May. A description of his remarks and an examination of the Robinson-Patman Act can be read here.

Sam Levine Interviewed About Surveillance Pricing on "Click Here" Podcast

August 26, 2025

Sam Levine was interviewed about surveillance pricing on Click Here, a podcast about current issues in the world of tech. You can listen to the episode (entitled the "The price tag of you") here.

Sam Levine Quoted in Article on AI Deregulation

July 24, 2025
Senior Fellow Sam Levine was quoted in a Bloomberg piece about the Trump administration's efforts to deregulate AI. You can read the piece here.

Sam Levine Interviewed by NPR on Surveillance Pricing

August 11, 2025
In an interview with NPR's Weekend Edition, Senior Fellow Sam Levine discussed how surveillance pricing—collecting data from consumers to set individualized prices—is driving up costs and eroding privacy. Building on testimony he delivered before the United States Senate last month, Levine emphasized the importance of a strong response by policymakers. "We don't need to live in a world of one person, one price," Levine told NPR. "I think all states should pass surveillance pricing bans, especially if Congress doesn't act. We really have an opportunity to both protect...

Sam Levine Testifies Before Senate About Protecting Consumers’ Privacy Online

July 30, 2025

Quartet of screenshots of Sam Levine providing Senate testimony on July 30, 2025.

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...

After Notice and Choice: Reinvigorating “Unfairness” to Rein In Data Abuses

June 16, 2025

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has long served as America’s default privacy enforcer. Yet for much of its history, the agency relied on self-regulation through a “notice and choice” framework that left the public vulnerable in an era of rampant data collection and digital surveillance. Businesses overwhelmed users with dense privacy notices while amassing and exploiting vast troves of personal data. The agency’s historical approach, rooted in outdated assumptions about self-correcting markets and an ideologically cramped view of the FTC’s authorities and mandate, helped usher in a...

Freedom to Earn, Freedom to Speak, and Freedom to Compete: Protecting MLM Workers in a Perilous Economy, by Samuel Levine

June 15, 2025

Like many Americans, I’m deeply alarmed by the escalating attacks on consumer protection in Washington – especially the efforts to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Weakening this vital agency will lead to more fraud, more predatory lending, and greater risk of another economic crisis.

I’m also deeply troubled by recent developments at the Federal Trade Commission, especially the unlawful removal of Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya – two of the most dedicated public servants I’ve worked with. Their absence diminishes the agency, and they should be reinstated without...

NY Must Step Up to Protect Consumers as Feds Step Back (Guest Opinion by Samuel Levine & Seth Frotman)

May 29, 2025

Sam Levine is former director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Seth Frotman is former general counsel and senior adviser to the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They are based in Washington, D.C.

It will come as no surprise to Syracuse that the global financial crisis did not begin with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, or with the meltdown in the stock market. It began house by house, mortgage by subprime mortgage, pushed by lenders who knew these loans would fail. And it began with the federal government turning a blind eye to...

Trump Talks About Prices. Lina Khan is Lowering Them

May 13, 2025

Samuel Levine is a Senior Fellow at the UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice. He was the Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection under President Biden.

This week, something rare is happening in Washington: a federal rule is going into effect that should actually lower prices for American consumers. And here’s the irony: While Donald Trump has promised to lower prices, the most meaningful price-cutting policy to take effect during his watch is this one – a rule proposed, championed, and finalized by former Federal Trade...

California Senate Passes Landmark Bill to Protect Car Buyers from Junk Fees and Bait-and-Switch Tactics

June 3, 2025

The California Senate today passed SB 766, the Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Act, marking a major victory for California consumers against junk fees and bait-and-switch tactics. Authored by Senator Ben Allen and backed by the Center and a broad coalition of consumer advocates, the legislation cracks down on deceptive practices in the sale of new and used vehicles – California’s number one source of consumer complaints.

“Buying a car shouldn’t feel like navigating a minefield,” said Ted Mermin, the Center’s Director. “This bill ensures car...