About the IAPP

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter was sworn in as a Federal Trade Commissioner on May 2, 2018.

Rebecca Slaughter brings to the commission more than a decade of experience in competition, privacy, and consumer protection. She builds consensus for a progressive vision, and staunchly advocates for our nation’s consumers and workers. Slaughter believes that the FTC’s dual missions of promoting competition and protecting consumers are interconnected and complementary, and she is mindful that enforcement or rulemaking in one arena can have far-reaching implications for the other.

A proponent of greater resources, transparency, and comprehensive use of the FTC’s authorities, Slaughter is outspoken about the growing threats to competition and the broad abuse of consumers’ data. Targeted merger retrospectives, corrective enforcement, and expansion of the commission’s rulemaking authorities are among the approaches that she has championed during her time at the FTC. Along with advocating for consumers, particularly those traditionally underrepresented and marginalized, Slaughter strongly supports working families and work-life balance.

Before joining the FTC, Slaughter served as chief counsel to Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the current Senate majority leader. She was an associate in the Washington D.C. office of Sidley Austin LLP before entering federal service.

Slaughter received her bachelor’s in anthropology magna cum laude from Yale University and her juris doctor from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor on the Yale Law Journal. She lives in Maryland with her husband and their four children.