• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, May 9, 2016

Former Department of Commerce official John Verdi will join the industry-funded think tank Future of Privacy Forum as vice president of policy, the group announced today.

He previously served as director of privacy initiatives at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, where he led efforts to forge voluntary privacy standards governing matters such as facial recognition technology and mobile apps.

That effort, which involved convening meetings between advocates and industry representatives, proved controversial. Last June, a coalition of privacy watchdogs walked out of talks centered on facial recognition technology after a contentious meeting at which the advocates and industry representatives couldn't agree on key privacy principles. The departing organizations included the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Center for Digital Democracy, the Consumer Federation of America, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, Consumer Action and Consumer Watchdog.

Prior to joining the NTIA, Verdi served as general counsel for the advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center, where he litigated privacy battles. Among other cases, he was involved in a challenge to Facebook's $9 million settlement of a lawsuit stemming from its Beacon ad program, which told users about their friends' e-commerce activity.

Verdi, who left the Department of Commerce on Friday, will start work at the Future of Privacy Forum on May 23.