ChiefTechnologist
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Meet the FTC's new chief technologist
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has again cocked an eye toward privacy by appointing Lorrie Cranor as chief technologist. Cranor heads Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory (CUPS), and has written over 150 research papers on the topic. The FTC is set up to prevent "fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices," so Cranor will advise it on concerns around technology and policy. For starters, she would like companies to simplify their privacy and security practices so that they're easier for the public to grasp. "Companies add more rules, which does not always make websites more secure," she told TribLive.
FTC appoints Ed Felten as agency's first Chief Technologist
It may come as a bit of a surprise to some considering that seemingly every company and government agency has one these days, but the Federal Trade Commission has never had a Chief Technologist. It's now finally filled that gap, however, and has appointed Edward W. Felten to the post. As you may be aware, Felten's a professor of computer science and public affairs at Princeton and the founding director of the university's Center for Information Technology, but he's probably best known for his efforts to expose problems with electronic voting machines, and for his vocal advocacy against DRM -- he also uses his Mii for his profile image on the Freedom to Tinker blog, so you know you're not exactly dealing with your usual government bureaucrat. Felten has actually already been serving as a part-time adviser to the FTC, and it seems like he'll now basically be continuing that role in a full-time capacity, with the FTC only saying that he will "advise the agency on evolving technology and policy issues."
