We have seen serious issues come to light. The Credit Bureau was falsely marking consumers as terrorists and we have to get to these core accuracy issues and that is something that warrants bipartisan attention about what we can do to make sure the plumbing of our Consumer Financial infrastructure is working better. We need to use the fair credit reporting act as well as other laws. I agree the commission needs to amp up its work with respect to consumer reporting. Final question, i have spoken to you about this. Im interested in this area of predictive algorithms, some is simple Data Analytics available decades ago, some is getting more robust and sophisticated. I am interested in this space because it is not clear who has jurisdiction. Some of it may be doj, some might be the fcc, algorithms that serve as a proxy for race or geographic locations or disability status and these predictive algorithms are sold as a product to a government or a company, but they are a black box because they are proprietary. It is difficult to determine whether laws are being violated so i wonder if you can look at this. I will take rohit chopra on this question. 50 years ago we passed the fair credit reporting act to make sure there werent secret databases making decisions about our lives without consumers having access to that data and increasingly outside the credit reporting sector the industry of data brokers and other sectors are using more and more data. The ftc published a big data report that highlighted some of those issues but i look forward to working with you and others so we can figure out what the industry dynamics and issues for consumers are. Thank you. Thank you, i would like to direct a couple comments and questions to Mister Simons initially. How you prioritize the significant number of issues pending before the commission . Thank you for the question. First priority if confirmed is going to be making sure we are doing vigorous enforcement on the Consumer Protection side and competition side and do it in a way that gets the biggest bang for taxpayers dollars and focus our intentions mostly where harm is the greatest. That is how to prioritize. Given the increased number of issues before the ftc, what are your views on the adequacy of the current ftc budget and how will you ensure the commission has the resources necessary to protect consumers . I will look carefully at the budget if confirmed and make sure we have what we need to do the job we need to do and if we dont, i will come to you and ask for more money. As we discussed in our meeting, it was a very good meeting i am concerned about the ability of federal agencies to protect their networks against cyberintrusions including use targeted against Public Comment systems. Address the ways you empower or elevate the ftc. One of the things im going to do if confirmed when i first get to the ftc is to talk to the cio and folks dealing with these issues. This is a big concern for me, an important concern and i want to address it quickly. I have a long history of working with the federal trade commission on false laboring of Sports Equipment targeted to young people. The ftc has done some good work, specifically sent letters to retailers, manufacturers calling out certain deceptive practices but it is important the ftc continue to monitor for future misleading labels. Will you commit to me to continue to monitor the marketplace with traditional and online retailers and use the Enforcement Authority of the ftc for any marketer or manufacturer repeatedly making false claims. I will be happy to make that commitment, this is near and dear to my heart. My son had a serious concussion playing football in high school and i saw the effects of that. Very important to me. This next question is addressed to all nominees. Consumers are purchasing more and more items connected to the internet but they may not understand the enormous data, these items can include childrens toys, monitoring devices. Can you talk about the actions to educate consumers about Data Collection practices, what are your ideas how to promote Consumer Protection and increasingly online and connected world. Lets start with rohit chopra. Consumer education and engagement increase understanding of the sheer volume of data collected. I particularly want to underscore collection of data, children, servicemembers and other pockets of our populations warrant more specific attention. Congress has certain protections in place that address childrens privacy, that address privacy of students and i we should continue to increase understanding and awareness by consumers. I largely agree with what my colleagues said and your focus on Consumer Education cannot be more important. There is a lot the ftc can do, outreach to the consumer community, the business community, particularly affected groups like military, the elderly, parents of kids, is central. Also using members of congress and what they have to get the word out. Miss wilson, let me interrupt you because my time is gone here but i wanted to make a plug and senator blumenthal will join me on this, a plug for the ftc working with state attorneys general, both of these were attorneys general sometime in our career and it seems to me you can amplify consumer efforts by doing that, state attorneys general have their ear to the ground, they hear directly from consumers, many in many states have strong Consumer Protection laws, attorneys general are out there doing that. A good working relationship with state attorneys general will help amplify the work you do. With that i am finished. Sorry for running over a little bit. Thank you. Thank you. To all of our nominees congratulations on your nomination and to all family members of the nominees who are here, thank you for supporting your loved ones, i am very grateful especially to the children in the audience sharing their parents with the American People and they deserve their thanks to that too. I want to start with a question for you, rohit chopra. Given your finance background i want to ask about student loan scams. Predatory student loan providers are a serious problem for american consumers. They exploit vulnerable young people by charging outrageously high often illegal upfront fees in addition to money charges. The ftc and several states began a crackdown on this activity last fall but it is clear more needs to be done at the federal level to make sure these predatory companies cannot operate anywhere and harm consumers in the United States was what more can the ftc do to fight predatory lending behavior . Despairs uncanny resemblance to the foreclosure crisis, as mortgages went bad, foreclosure relief firms many of which were fraudulent preyed on so many communities that were hit hard by foreclosures. There is a student loan default in this country once every 28 seconds, 3000 today, over 1 million a year and we discussed this. I know there has been criticism of the ftc on being late to this but i really think staff has done a terrific job on Student Debt Relief work and need to amplify that work and look to work with attorneys general and others to make sure we are not allowing a repeat of what we saw in the aftermath of the foreclosure crisis. This is a question for the panel, we have limited time so i start with Joseph Simons and work down. In the past the fcc has looked at video games issuing a report on video games in 2009, and 2013. It also studied the Entertainment Software rating board finding one of the most effective voluntary enforcement boards. Taking this issue seriously, today sending a letter outlining my concerns with microzooba transactions and allow end game purchases for surprise winnings. In many cases these are marketed to be used by children who are particularly susceptible to being addicted, last month the World Health Organization recognized demon disorder will as a diagnosisable disorder. We should be doing all we can to protect our children, and informed them of their options. The questions for you i do you agree children being addicted to gaming and activities like this that might make more susceptible to addiction, it merits our attention and depending on how they respond to my inquiry would the ftc be willing to look at this as an issue independently and i will start with you. I would agree on both counts. As the mother of two teenagers i would agree the extent to which teenagers play video games is a concern and would be willing to talk with staff and get up to speed on this issue. I am not an expert on this issue but i have several reasons to believe i will be forced to become an expert on it and look forward to working with career staff and colleagues on that issue. Yes, senator. I have one more question will take far more than 45 seconds i have left so why not submit that in writing, thank you very much and i yield back my time, mister chair. Welcome to all the panelists here and congratulations on your nomination. Many of my colleagues asked about data breach or privacy issues in general but i want to ask if you thought given the equifax issues we have seen, the five weeks it took to notify the public at the breach happened, if we should have more vigorous guidance, guidelines on notification for data breach. That is worth looking at. I want to talk to staff about it and get their views and talk to you and other members of the committee. Is five weeks too long . One of the things i understand is in issue is you want to make sure you know what the breach is about and hopefully can fix it before you have to announce it. Sometimes it depends on the facts of the case and whether the breach notification is more appropriate sooner or later. Just as a general matter in terms of the notification itself had legislation it is something i could be interested in. I want to be careful not to prejudice any existing registration but the data breach was a wakeup call about the patchwork of state laws we have and appropriate how consumers are informed. And they are impacted by it. Im very interested in working with all of you on data breach and Security Issues because it is only going to be more frequent, not just impacting consumers and businesses but impacts so many facets of our life including our national security. Is five weeks too long . I dont want to prejudice any Ongoing Investigation but as a general matter, not speaking about any specific situation, several weeks after a major breach of personal data does not sound like enough. Like my colleagues, i understand the fcc has announced it is investigating that matter so i dont want to speak specifically about that investigation in any way. Obviously that is a major issue and i look forward to working with my colleagues, staff and agency on what is appropriate. This is a significant issue. I have spoken with my colleagues at the table today. We recognize that the federal trade commission will spend a great deal of time and energy investigating these issues and figuring out how best to serve the american consumer. I would join my colleagues in saying i dont want to prejudice an investigation but i look forward to talking with staff, receiving briefings based on nonpublic information if confirmed and talk with you further about additional legislation that may be required. Facts are wellknown because they have been in the press, this committee had a hearing on it, an issue we are familiar with, a software fix is available and yet applied within the company, 145 million peoples personal data has been impacted. What we understand is what our personal views are on how important it is to plan impressive role in filling the gap. Ftc members not speaking aggressively about this issue and the role we need to plan monitoring how to protect consumers on privacy, that is great concern to me and it will be great concern to my constituents. I have questions about your current antimanipulation authority as it relates to energy and oil markets. My time is about to expire. Thank all of you for your willingness to serve. I will piggyback on mister blumenthals question on Prescription Drug pricing. We see a lot of consolidation in this industry. There is continued consolidation in that he p. M. Industry where they dominate the market. Many of these companies own proprietary pharmacies, retail and mailorder which compete with local retail pharmacies in an uneven playing field. As somebody who represents a state with a lot of seniors, very important. How do you expect to deal with this . I saw you shaking your head. I agree wholeheartedly with that concern. One of the things i want to do which is spelled out in more detail is establish a Merger Retrospective Program so that we look at whether our merger enforcement has been as effective as it should be. Why hasnt it . Seeing how we can fix it. As part of that it might make sense to look at what you are describing. That will determine what the problem is and how to fix it. Thank you for the question. I dont need to tell you the price of healthcare for americans may be the number one issue in their lives financially speaking. The ftc has a proud decadelong bipartisan track record of working on helping to keep competition going in healthcare markets from new mergers of hospital to policing Prescription Drug prices. If confirmed i look forward to making that issue a priority. I agree the federal trade commission has a long, rich history of ensuring competition and healthcare markets including Prescription Drug markets, this is an area the ftc spent a great deal of time and effort, important for all americans Given Healthcare costs account for almost 1 5 of gdp. This is an area where i anticipate if confirmed spending a great deal of time and effort. Our time is short. You have been in office too, telemarketing, the new spoofing we all see across our phones but also robo calls and telemarketing take on a different form than the original do not call registry list we saw and developed successfully. You mentioned, several of you mentioned in your statements the need for technology and commissions technological experts to keep ahead of the next algorithms being developed to get around the rules or reach the consumer. You had a good answer for that. Put it on the record for me. The commission launched the do not call initiative. Of chairman nunez were here today he would say that was 15 minutes, technology has, some polls need to be plugged. We know robo calls and other calls are a form of harassment, they are unlawful under a variety of statutes and i think we need to find technological solution and significant enforcement in that area, working with my colleagues to make sure we have a solution for that issue. A quick comment. Going back to seniors, this impacts the ability for fraud, taken advantage of not just emotionally but financially, we see it happening, do you have a response . I was going to share that. We need to look at robo calls and telemarketing not as an inconvenience but as a real harm to many people. Many individuals do not have the luxury of screening their calls. They might be waiting for doctors call, or the next job, this is something we need to remember. Not simply an annoyance. Thank you. Thanks to each of you for being willing to serve and being here to answer our questions. You might be familiar with proposal known as the smarter act which is a piece of legislation that would ensure that affirmative justice and antitrust officials and the federal trade commission would have to meet the same standards when seeking preliminary injunction to block a proposed merger and also require the ftc to litigate in federal court instead of relying on administrative processes which have access. Some point in the past, the proposal with individuals who say dont necessarily see the need for legislation like that and dont like it because we dont need it to be that way. There is no reason to change it. I have a couple questions related to this. I would like each of you to tell me number one if theres any good reason to have a different standard applicable to the ftc and applies to the department of justice when either entity is trying to block a merger. Number 2, whether you would ever authorize the filing of an administrative compliance without seeking an injunction in federal court. I agree similar standards, Market Participants should not have to navigate these standards whenever possible. I want to explore this more with you. One question with respect to speed of the overall proceedings can sometimes be faster and cheaper for parties, it is something i would look into as a general matter. I take your point that these issues may be best suited. Thank you, senator. My answer to the first question, i cant think of any reason whatsoever. The law should not operate as an arbitrage which federal agency and companies should not have to consider that question when deciding whether and how to pursue, as i said to you, personally i need to learn a little more about the operation and if confirmed i look forward to working with my colleagues with career staff and with you on that question. Thank you. An important issue, a matter of Good Government that messages have clarity and predictability when they approach the government particularly with this jurisdiction between the ftc and doj. I do not believe there is a good reason for differentiated standards. There are people who will tell you the standards come the same way but conveying to businesses there is a standard has a great deal of value. In terms of where they are brought, as a general rule seeking a pi in federal court would be my inclination, extenuating circumstances that should be considered. As a general rule, seeking in federal court would be a way to do that. I dont see any reason there should be two standards. As a matter of practice the same standard is applied but no reason it shouldnt be made very clear. In terms of where the ftc files its merger challenges generally it should be in federal court, one bite of the apple, litigation, the agency loses and going to administrative trial. Appreciate that answer very much. That is very helpful. In any case whether we are talking about law or otherwise but particularly relevant when talking about a hypothetical play about realworld situatio