Microsoft names new privacy chief

Microsoft announced Monday that Peter Cullen, the corporate privacy officer for the Royal Bank of Canada, will be joining the software giant as its new chief privacy strategist. The top privacy officer has more than a decade of experience in the field, including establishing the Royal Bank of Canada's best practices for data handling in Canada and the United States, said the company in a statement.

Cullen will join Microsoft on July 14, reporting to Scott Charney, the company's chief strategist in charge of its "Trustworthy Computing" initiative. The Redmond, Wash. software giant launched the corporate initiative in January 2002 as a way to secure its products, raise reliability and regain consumer trust.