Ashkan Soltani

Ashkan Soltani is an independent researcher and technologist specializing in privacy, security, and technology policy. His work draws attention to privacy problems online, demystifies technology for the non-technically inclined, and provides data-driven insights to help inform policy.

Soltani served as the inaugural Executive Director of the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA), the first data protection authority in the United States. Appointed as the agency’s first employee in October 2021, he was tasked with building the agency from the ground up and overseeing the implementation and enforcement of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Delete Act (SB 362). Under his leadership, the CPPA completed critical rulemaking, created the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP), and established its enforcement division to uphold consumer privacy rights for the world’s fifth-largest economy.

Before his role at the CPPA, Soltani was the Chief Technologist for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where he advised the commission on technology-related policy and helped establish the Office of Technology Research and Investigation, enhancing the agency’s ability to understand and investigate complex digital privacy issues. He previously served as one of the first staff technologists at the FTC from 2010 to 2011, where he led technical investigations into many of the most prominent technology companies impacting consumers, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

Soltani was also recognized as part of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning team at the Washington Post for their coverage of national security issues. He was also the primary technical consultant on the Wall Street Journal’s investigative series, “What They Know”, which was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for its groundbreaking research on the pervasive and often covert methods of online tracking.

He currently works as a consultant and expert on multiple state and federal privacy matters.

A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with a Master’s degree in Information Management and Systems, Soltani has consistently worked at the intersection of technology, policy, and public interest.