Privacy tops NTIA’s agenda with Strickling at helm

Newspaper ads displayed on a wall in Lawrence Strickling’s office herald a technological revolution that will create a smaller, more interconnected world. Though the slogans might sound like the beginning of the Internet era, the ads actually date to the turn of the 20th century, after the adoption of the telephone. Strickling said the ads serve as a reminder that the challenges facing his agency, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), haven’t changed that much since the era of Alexander Graham Bell.

NTIA, an agency within the Commerce Department, was founded more than 30 years ago to advise the president on telecommunication issues and to manage how the federal government uses the airwaves. But as the Internet has become a central feature of daily life and an engine of global commerce, NTIA has stepped forward as one of the primary federal agencies for setting online policy. One of the policy issues on NTIA’s agenda is privacy protection. The agency is leading discussions between Web companies and consumer groups about how best to safeguard people’s information online.