Google's Privacy Director Is Stepping Down

Alma Whitten, Google‘s first director of privacy, is stepping down from her post with plans to retire.

She’s remaining for a couple of months while the privacy team transitions to new leadership. Whitten, who has been overseeing privacy at Google from the company’s London office, will be replaced by Lawrence You, an engineer who has been with the company for eight years, and, importantly, is based in Mountain View, where much of the privacy-violating magic happens. It’s certainly much closer to the Google X Lab, from whence new technologies such as Glass and driverless cars are coming, presenting novel privacy implications for review. You has been working with Whitten and the privacy team, notably when the team oversaw the uniting of Google’s 70+ privacy policies into one (which caused the Internet to freak out). You will be taking over a privacy and security team that includes several hundred people.