Consumer credit reporting company TransUnion has hired Eli Peterson to fill the newly created role of deputy general counsel for public policy and privacy.

Peterson will lead the company’s global groups for public policy, government relations, regulatory advocacy and privacy, according to an announcement Thursday. He is set to join the Chicago-based firm’s office in Washington on Aug. 5.

While Peterson was not available for an interview Thursday, his soon-to-be boss, Heather Russell, TransUnion’s executive vice president and chief legal officer, said in an email that the company was “focused on ensuring consumers are afforded opportunity and that their information is protected.

“As a result, we work with policymakers around the world to ensure that information is used and secured for the good of the consumer and that individuals’ privacy remains paramount,” she added. “Eli Peterson’s global policy expertise will better enable TransUnion to work with governments in a coordinated manner positioning us to continue to propel economies around the world.”

Peterson, meanwhile, said in a written statement that “TransUnion is at the vanguard of countless exciting opportunities in the risk and data analytics spaces that are helping consumers and economies worldwide.”

He added he was “excited to be joining the company, and see great potential to leverage technology to ensure that information is used in the best interest of consumers.”

Peterson’s appointment hints at a possible trend. In late June, Meredith Corp. announced that it had hired its first chief privacy officer. The national multimedia company explained at the time that the heightened focus on privacy legislation and data protection had spurred it to shift privacy responsibilities from its executive steering committee to a dedicated senior-level employee.

TransUnion operates a consumer credit database of 1 billion people in more than 30 countries and has a global customer base of more than 65,000 businesses. The company announced July 23 that its revenue for the second quarter of 2019 totaled $662 million, an increase of 18% compared with the same quarter last year. 

Chris Cartwright, president and CEO of TransUnion, told investors that the company was continuing to “see broad-based strength including significant growth in India, Latin America and Canada.”

In his new role at TransUnion, Peterson will be responsible for driving enterprise strategy related to the company’s business with governmental agencies throughout the world while leading cross-business legal support for privacy matters. 

Peterson is departing his position as a managing director at Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in Washington, where he oversees the bank’s public policy and regulatory advocacy. He joined BNY Mellon in 2010 as an associate general counsel, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

Peterson began his career in 2006 as a banking and finance attorney with the boutique firm of McIntyre & Lemon in Washington. In 2010, he joined The Clearing House, a banking association and payments company owned by the world’s largest commercial banks, as senior regulatory counsel and associate general counsel. 

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