Microsoft Corp. hired Julie Brill, a former commissioner for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, to lead the company's privacy and regulatory affairs group.

Brill, who will be deputy general counsel and report directly to Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith, joins the company after roughly a year with Hogan Lovells, where she served as co-director of the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice.

As chief regulatory lobbyist for the company, she'll lead the company's efforts to shape government policy on privacy, cybersecurity and telecommunications.