Alvaro Martin Bedoya (born February 21, 1982) is an American attorney and government official who served on the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

(FTC) from 2022 until 18 March 2025, when he was fired by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. Known for his focus on digital privacy issues, Bedoya was the founding director of the Center on Privacy and Technology at the

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

. Bedoya is a member of the Democratic Party and was nominated to the position by President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

Early life and education

Bedoya was born in 1982 in

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, and was raised in

Vestal, New York Vestal is a Town (New York), town within Broome County, New York, Broome County in the Southern Tier of New York (state), New York, United States, and lies between the Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania border. As of the 2020 census, the pop ...

. Bedoya received a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

. While at Yale, Bedoya served as an Editor on the ''

Yale Law Journal ''The Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ) is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School. The journal is one ...

''. During law school, Bedoya worked at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Wilmer Hale, and for Senator

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...

on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security.

Legal career

After law school, Bedoya was an associate at Wilmer Hale from 2007 to 2009. He then served as chief counsel to the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. Bedoya also served as chief counsel to Senator

Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, and actor who served from 2009 to 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he worked as an ...

( D- MN). He then founded and directed the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law, where he also served as a Professor of Law. Bedoya is known for his opposition to government surveillance, and has argued that the

right to privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 185 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. Since the globa ...

is a

civil liberty Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

. In a 2018 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Bedoya criticized

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

, and other technology companies for alleged violations of user privacy rights. Bedoya advocated for the removal of advertisements for payday loan services on Google, stating that the "internet should not be a place that profits from your weaknesses". Bedoya's work has been published in publications such as ''

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

.''

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

In early 2021, Bedoya was considered by President

as a potential nominee to chair the

(FTC) seat held by Joseph Simons. However,

Lina Khan Lina Maliha Khan (born March 3, 1989) is an American legal scholar who served from 2021 to 2025 as chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). She is also a professor at Columbia Law School. While a student at Yale Law School, she became known ...

was instead chosen for this position.

Nomination and confirmation

In September 2021, Bedoya was nominated for the FTC seat held by Rohit Chopra. Bedoya's nomination was praised by then-FTC Chair Khan, who stated that Bedoya's "expertise on surveillance and data security and his longstanding commitment to public service would be enormously valuable to the Commission" in a press release. On December 1, 2021, the Senate Commerce Committee deadlocked on his nomination. On March 3, 2022, the committee once again deadlocked on Bedoya's nomination, forcing the full Senate to move to discharge it. On March 30, 2022, his nomination was discharged by the full Senate. Bedoya was confirmed by the full Senate on May 11, 2022, by a vote of 51-50 with Vice President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

casting the tie-breaking vote.

Tenure

Bedoya was sworn in on May 16, 2022 for a term running until September 25, 2026. According to ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'', Bedoya has been recognized for having "policy expertise on tech-driven consumer harms outside of antitrust", with a particular focus on data privacy issues. As a member of the FTC, Bedoya has advocated for reviving enforcement of the

Robinson–Patman Act The Robinson–Patman Act (RPA) of 1936 (or Anti-Price Discrimination Act, Pub. L. No. 74-692, 49 Stat. 1526 (codified at )) is a United States federal law that prohibits anticompetitive practices by producers, specifically price discrimination. ...

, a 1936 law that prohibits

price discrimination Price discrimination (differential pricing, equity pricing, preferential pricing, dual pricing, tiered pricing, and surveillance pricing) is a Microeconomics, microeconomic Pricing strategies, pricing strategy where identical or largely similar g ...

. Alongside Democratic colleagues Khan and Rebecca Slaughter, Bedoya voted in favor of bringing an antitrust lawsuit against Meta's acquisition of Within in 2022.

Firing by President Trump

On March 18, 2025, before the formal end of his term, both Bedoya and fellow Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter were fired by President Trump. After learning of his dismissal, Bedoya challenged the legality of Trump's action, arguing that President Trump did not have the statutory or constitutional power to fire him, and stated on the social media platform X that "the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies".

Recognition

*2022 NHMC DC Impact Awards (NHMC Impact Award Digital Advocacy)

References

1982 births Living people American people of Peruvian descent Georgetown University Law Center faculty Harvard College alumni Peruvian emigrants to the United States United States Senate lawyers Yale Law School alumni Federal Trade Commission personnel {{Authority control People from Vestal, New York