Don Blumenthal is a professional with over 20 years proven experience in technology, law, and policy. He served as the Internet Lab Coordinator for the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. The Lab, a pioneering effort in gathering evidence related to fraud and deception on the Internet, was the FTC’s center for the anonymous investigation of Internet matters under the FTC’s jurisdiction. It contained tools for evidence development, examination, and preservation, as well as the FTC’s spam database.

Mr. Blumenthal established and oversaw the Lab, managed the FTC’s Consumer Protection Technical Support Group, and provided technical and legal expertise to investigations that involved systems issues. He participated as a technical advisor and as an attorney in matters related to the Internet and other technology-related projects, concentrating on security practices and breaches that might compromise consumer information, fraudulent practices concerning Internet services, and a wide range of questions related to privacy, spam, and malware. He was active in policy related initiatives, such as analyses of proposed malware and antispam legislation; reports to Congress on online privacy practices, the feasibility of a spam do-not-email system, and the effects of the CAN-SPAM law; and an analysis of consumer information provided on ecommerce websites internationally. Mr. Blumenthal also developed Consumer Protection’s Litigation Support Group, which provides assistance with data capture and analysis, document management, electronic discovery, and trial technology.

Mr. Blumenthal has testified regarding Internet investigations on behalf of the FTC, other federal agencies, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. He has spoken on the topics of Internet governance structures, technical operations, and evidence capture to domestic and international law enforcement agencies, consumer protection groups, and other organizations, including the Third European IT-Forensics Meetings, the Internet Security Operations Task Force, the Florida Association of Computer Crime Investigators, the International Marketing Supervision Network, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, the UK Financial Services Authority, the Canadian Task Force on Spam, Lloyds of London’s fraud investigations office, DEFCON, and ARIN. He also served on US government task forces on cybersecurity and Internet governance.

Mr. Blumenthal served as a co-chair and major contributor to the American Bar Association’s publications Roadmap to an Enterprise Security Program, International Guide to Privacy, and International Guide to Cyber Security. He has been the subject of numerous articles, such as “TechnoLawyer Keeps Heat on Spammers,” Dallas Morning News, March 11, 2004, and “Trade Commission Runs Web Dragnet,” Government Computer News, April 29, 2002.

Prior to joining the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Mr. Blumenthal worked in central IT operations at the FTC, and first consulted on computer issues in FTC investigations in 1992. He was instrumental in implementing Internet operations at the agency, and in developing electronic courtroom technologies, electronic discovery procedures, and electronic data seizure methodologies. He began his FTC tenure as a trial attorney in the Cleveland Regional Office. His career also includes time at another federal agency, in private practice, and as a legislative director for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mr. Blumenthal was the recipient of numerous awards at the FTC, including the Award for Distinguished Service in 2006. He holds a certificate in Systems and Project Management from the Computer Science and Information Science program at The American University, a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. from Oberlin College. In his alternative universe, Mr. Blumenthal works part time as a scout for the Oakland Raiders.