New Chief Technologist Starts at FTC in January 2016

Lorrie Faith Cranor will reportedly succeed Askan Soltani as Chief Technologist
at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as of January 2016. The
role focuses on advising FTC Chair Edith Ramirez and the Commission
on technology and policy issues.

“Technology is playing an ever more important role in consumers’
lives, whether through mobile devices, personal fitness trackers or the
increasing array of Internet-connected devices we find in homes and
elsewhere,” Ramirez said in announcing Cranor’s appointment.

Cranor currently directs the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security
Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University, where she is a professor of
Computer Science and Engineering and Public Policy. She has authored
more than 150 papers about online privacy and usable security. See FTC
News Release, December 3, 2015.

Issue 587