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From: Charlessfg@aol.com
To: HQ.DCMAIL4(advisorycommittee)
Date: Wed, Jan 5, 2000 2:08 PM
Subject: NOMINATION POO4807

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ONLINE ACCESS AND SECURITY--NOMINATION, POO4807

TO: Secretary, Federal Trade Commission
FROM: Catherine A. Allen, Chief Executive Officer, BITS
RE: Nomination to FTC Advisory Committee on Online Access and Security
DATE: January 5, 2000

It is my pleasure to nominate Cheryl Charles, Senior Director, BITS, to serve as a member of the FTC Advisory Committee on Online Access and Security. Ms. Charles brings a unique set of qualifications to this role. For the past three years, she has served as Senior Director for Research and Communications with BITS. Early on, this included staff support for the Banking Industry Privacy Principles that were endorsed unanimously by the BITS and The Bankers Roundtable (now Financial Services Roundtable) Boards of Directors and all other banking trade organizations in September of 1997.

In addition to providing senior staff leadership in support of BITS' banker-led privacy research and communications initiatives, including qualitative and quantitative research and the development of a spreadsheet software program to assess the costs of changes in information management systems, she has responsibility for editing and frequently authoring BITS' white papers and other communications in all of BITS' priority areas--whether payments, infrastructure, fraud reduction, electronification, privacy or security-related. She is well-versed in the range of technology and Internet issues that affect the growth of e-commerce today. She, for example, has briefed a number of senior officials in the federal government. Her expertise includes security as well as privacy, fundamental to the mission of the FTC's Advisory Committee on Online Access and Security. She has participated in the creation of the BITS Financial Services Security Laboratory, a first-of-its-kind cooperative effort among technology vendors, the financial services sector, and government, including the US Department of the Navy, to test e-commerce software and hardware against security criteria.

Informed about the perspectives of the financial services industry, she will bring a fact-based foundation to the deliberations of the Committee--grounded in research, the importance of consumer confidence, and knowledgeable about the rapid changes that technology enables in this e-commerce and Internet environment.

As additional background, BITS is The Technology Group for The Financial Services Roundtable. The Roundtable is a not-for-profit trade organization whose membership is reserved for the largest integrated financial services institutions in the US. BITS' mission, since it was created by the CEOs in 1996, has included safeguarding the security and privacy of consumers' financial information. BITS provides strategic guidance to the financial services industry, especially in the areas of emerging technology, e-commerce, payments and related issues. BITS reports to a Board of 16 CEOs, representing the largest financial institutions in the US.

Not only does Ms. Charles have a strong background in e-commerce and the financial services sector, she would bring to this Advisory role her 25 years of leadership in the voluntary, not-for-profit, social sector. For example, as Co-Founder of the Center for the Study of Community, she is a noted national authority in collaborative, community problem-solving. The Center is a think tank and educational center. Potentially helpful to the responsibilities of this Advisory Committee on Online Access and Security, Ms. Charles is a skilled facilitator and consensus builder. Ms. Charles has a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Washington. (See attached resume.)

We understand the commitment of time and schedule of meetings involved in this Advisory Committee. Ms. Charles will be able to meet the requirements of the meeting and work schedule.

If you would like additional information, please contact me at BITS, (202) 289-4322; or contact Ms. Charles directly at the same number.

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