The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s top consumer protection regulator, appointed a privacy expert and former journalist as its chief technologist on Tuesday, a signal that the commission intends to maintain a close watch on online privacy and security issues.
The appointee, Ashkan Soltani, is an independent technology consultant. As an investigative reporter for The Washington Post last year, he co-wrote some of the articles in that paper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning series stemming from the Edward Snowden revelations.
Previously, Mr. Soltani worked as chief technical consultant for The Wall Street Journal on its “What They Know” series about online tracking and as a technology researcher for The New York Times.
Mr. Soltani succeeds Latanya Sweeney, who is returning to Harvard, where she founded and directs Harvard’s Data Privacy Lab, the commission said.
Edith Ramirez, chairwoman of the F.T.C., said Mr. Soltani would advise the commission on evolving technology and policy issues, returning to the agency, where he worked as a staff technologist in 2010 and 2011.
“Technology and online and mobile platforms are continuing to evolve at a rapid pace and will remain a key focus for the F.T.C. as more and more consumers adopt mobile devices and tablets,” Ms. Ramirez said.
Mr. Soltani will join the commission in November.