A new addition has been made to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy: Twitter lawyer Nicole Wong is joining as U.S. deputy chief technology officer, on the heels of another recent hire, Code for America founder Jennifer Pahlka, who serves as deputy CTO of government innovation.
Wong announced the move to her Twitter followers Thursday, expressing excitement over her new role.
It’s official! Thrilled to join @whitehouseostp as Deputy US CTO. It’s an honor to serve with such a talented and dedicated team.
— nicolewong (@nicolewong) June 20, 2013
Wong will be working under U.S. CTO Todd Park, focusing on Internet privacy and technology issues.
The news comes following reports the National Security Agency had been using secret Internet and phone surveillance programs, an event that called to question the Obama administration’s commitment to Internet and data privacy.
Wong has “tremendous expertise in these domains and an unrivaled reputation for fairness, and we look forward to having her on our team,” OSTP said in a statement.
At Google, Wong worked as vice president and deputy general counsel, earning the nickname, “The Decider.” After eight years at Google, she made the move to Twitter in January 2012, and has since November served as director of legal products.
