In the wake of on-going scrutiny of its privacy policies, as posted on TechCrunch, Facebook has hired former FTC chairman and O’Melveny & Meyers‘ Of Counsel, Tim Muris, to defend the social networking giant in Washington, DC.
This former Republican advisor to the Bush Administration may seem an unlikely defender for Facebook since it is the FTC that is now putting the lion’s share of the pressure on it, but he brings to the table the insight of an insider who, through such initiatives as “do not call list” legislation, has been lauded for his dedication to the cause of consumer protection.
His hiring by Facebook comes on the heels of the March 2009 hiring of A.C.L.U super attorney Timothy Sparapani as Facebook’s chief privacy officer. By bringing in such veterans, it is no secret that Facebook is vigorously seeking to efface the long list of charges in recent years of not protecting the privacy of its users.