US FTC may pick privacy expert, Obama ally-sources

WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A privacy and consumer protection expert in the North Carolina attorney general's office and an Hispanic ally of President Barack Obama are being considered for the Federal Trade Commission, according to antitrust sources with knowledge of the administration's thinking.

The five-person commission, which shares antitrust duties with the Justice Department and oversees consumer issues, has been short one commissioner since Deborah Majoras resigned in March 2008.

The term of a second commissioner, Pamela Jones Harbour, ends this month. Harbour, an independent, has told the White House that she would like to remain in place but this is unlikely, according to the antitrust sources.

Two women are under consideration for the FTC, the sources told Reuters.

Julie Brill, North Carolina's senior deputy attorney general and chief of consumer protection, previously worked in the Vermont Attorney General's consumer protection and antitrust divisions.

Despite working primarily outside Washington, Brill urged a congressional panel in 2005 to require that consumers be notified of data security breaches unless there were no risk of harm or misuse of personal information. In 2003, she urged greater protections to stop corporations from sharing nonpublic financial information about consumers.

The other potential nominee is Edith Ramirez, a partner in the law firm Quinn Emanuel based in Los Angeles, the sources said. An expert in copyright and trademark infringement, antitrust and unfair competition claims, Ramirez graduated from Harvard Law School in 1992.

Ramirez worked for the Harvard law review in 1990 at the same time Obama was the first black president of the review. She later worked on Obama's campaign as Latino outreach director in California.

The commission is chaired by Jon Leibowitz, a Democrat. The other two commissioners are Republicans William Kovacic and Thomas Rosch. (Reporting by Diane Bartz, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)