Privacy czar coming soon

Appointment could come within weeks

• By Michael Hardy
• Nov 15, 2010

The government is about to pick a privacy leader to address online privacy issues, according to reports.

Also expected soon: legislation targeting Internet privacy, reports Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica's "Law and Disorder" blog.

All of that, plus a report from the Commerce Department and a task force to implement its recommendations, is expected within weeks, she reports.

"There have been numerous privacy issues that have gotten the attention of Congress lately," Cheng adds, "including the high-profile Facebook app data breach and Google's 'accidental' WiFi data collection by Street View cars. Crackdowns on some of these issues have been led by countries with more aggressive privacy laws, with the Federal Trade Commission lagging behind, which the [Wall Street Journal's] sources indicate is the purpose of the new initiative: to bring the U.S. up to speed."