Soltani Brings Technical, Regulatory Expertise to Privacy Agency

The California Privacy Protection Agency’s new executive director Ashkan Soltani is uniquely poised to tackle enforcement and rulemaking for The Golden State’s landmark privacy laws despite steep time and staff constraints, attorneys and privacy professionals say.

Soltani, a former Federal Trade Commission official with deep knowledge of the technology industry, is tasked with promulgating regulations under the California Privacy Rights Act, a directive he must tackle while also adding employees to the still-nascent agency. He was named executive director Monday.

But that “tall order” can be adeptly tackled when the agency is led by someone like Soltani, who has substantial ...