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Consumer Privacy Effort

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The White House this week appointed an Ohio State University law professor to lead the administration’s efforts in the increasingly thorny area of consumer privacy in the computer age.

Peter Swire, regarded as a leading authority on privacy matters, was named chief counselor for privacy within the Office of Management and Budget, which oversees regulatory policy.

Swire, 40, has recently served as a consultant to the Commerce Department on electronic privacy issues and is co-author of a 1998 book on privacy titled “None of Your Business.”

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“This is a new position,” said OMB spokeswoman Linda Ricci. “What this appointment says is that privacy is something the administration takes seriously.”

Privacy has become a significant issue in Washington, particularly as consumers have expressed growing concern about their lack of control over personal data such as addresses and credit card numbers on the Internet.

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