Facebook Lawyer Planning AG Run?

So who’s more popular: Kamala Harris or Facebook?

California voters may get to decide, according to a late-breaking report from Tech Crunch. The blog, citing anonymous sources, reports that Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly is going to make a run for attorney general. He’ll face off with Harris and some lesser-known contenders.

We don't post drunken spring break pictures (sorry), after the jump:

Kelly started out as Facebook GC, a spot now occupied by Alberto Gonzales protégé Ted Ullyot, and was then promoted to his current position. Before that he worked at Baker & Mckenzie and Wilson Sonsini and was an education advisor for the Clinton White House (Yes, he’s a Dem).

Kelly’s certainly knows the AG’s office. He was the man in charge of hammering out an agreement with the AG’s of 49 states over ways that Facebook would prevent sexual predators and other nefarious forces from using the site for their purposes.

At Facebook, Kelly had an even more high-profile role than the GC having to deal with concerns over privacy among Facebook users. The company created a stir on that front when it put in place a targeted ad program that some argued violated privacy laws.

So who would you vote for: the most politically ambitious DA since Rudy Giuliani or the guy who knows everything about you because Facebook doesn’t really throw away those photos you didn’t mean to post or those messages you really wish that your old frat buddies would stop writing on your wall?

— Zusha Elinson

Comments

[Living wills]

Good article. I think Facebook faces immense challenges on both the public policy and user fronts in the years ahead as it stewards such large volumes of personal information.