SXSW 2012

Partner
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Lydia Parnes is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where her practice focuses on privacy, data security, Internet advertising, and general advertising and marketing practices. The former director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lydia is a highly regarded expert in the field of consumer protection. As director of the BCP, one of the FTC's two law-enforcement bureaus and the nation's only federal consumer-protection agency, Lydia oversaw the enforcement of a wide range of laws designed to prevent fraud and deception in the commercial marketplace, safeguard consumer privacy, and provide consumers with important information about the goods and services they purchase. She also represented the bureau in international settings and on Capitol Hill in connection with such high-profile issues as information security and privacy, Internet advertising, and identity theft. In addition, Lydia has extensive experience with the application of consumer-protection principles to the technology market. In 2006, she served as the deputy executive director of the President's Task Force on Identity Theft, coordinating the efforts of 17 federal agencies in developing a national strategic plan to combat identity theft in both the private and public sectors. Lydia joined the FTC in 1981 as attorney advisor to the chairman. During her tenure at the FTC, she held a variety of management positions, including assistant director of the Division of Policy and Evaluation from 1985 to 1987 and associate director of the Division of Marketing Practices from 1987 to 1992. In 1992, Lydia was named deputy director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, and was appointed director in 2004, the year in which the President conferred on her the rank of Meritorious Executive in the Senior Executive Service. Lydia is a member of the American Bar Association and is a Vice Chair of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law’s Consumer Protection Committee. In 2010, she was named among the country’s top privacy and data security attorneys in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.