Microsoft's new deputy GC will lead efforts on privacy, cybersecurity
Julie Brill/Courtesy: Microsoft
Julie Brill, the longtime consumer advocate and former member of the Federal Trade Commission, will join Microsoft Corp. this summer to lead its privacy and regulatory affairs group, Law.com reported Friday.
Brill’s title will be Deputy General Counsel for Privacy and Regulatory Affairs, according to a Microsoft corporate blog. She will report to Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer. This is a new role in Microsoft’s legal department, Bloomberg Law Big Law Business reported.
As the company’s chief regulatory lobbyist, Brill will take the lead in efforts on privacy, cybersecurity and telecommunications matters. The announcement of her hiring came little more than a year after she joined the Washington, D.C. office of Hogan Lovells as a partner, and where she was co-director of the global privacy and cybersecurity practice group.
“I’ve been deeply impressed by Microsoft’s commitment to privacy, their willingness to stand up for customers and their focus on offering constructive solutions to new challenges,” Brill said in a statement. “I’ve always tried to do the same throughout my career in government. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to contribute in a new and particularly meaningful way.”
Earlier this year, Smith called for a “Digital Geneva Convention” to bring governments together in facing cybersecurity threats, Bloomberg Law Big Law Business reported.
Smith sees Brill as a key player in that area.
“Cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence have the potential to drive profound and positive change across society, but they raise new issues and responsibilities as well,” Smith said in the Microsoft blog news release. “Julie’s deep expertise in privacy, keen intellect and strong international relationships will enable our customers to use the Microsoft Cloud knowing that we will help meet their global technology regulatory needs.”
Brill was appointed to the FTC in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama before joining Hogan Lovells last year. She previously served as an assistant attorney general in Vermont for consumer protection and antitrust for more than 20 years before becoming senior deputy attorney general and chief of consumer protection and antitrust in North Carolina’s Department of Justice.
