According to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, Apple’s head of privacy is set to leave the company for a law firm soon. Jane Horvath joined Apple back in 2011 and has been at the company for over a decade.
People familiar with the matter told Gurman that Horvath is leaving to work at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She reportedly informed Apple’s legal department of her impending departure in an internal memo.
Horvath worked as a global privacy counsel at Google before joining Apple. For most of her time at Apple, Horvath served as senior director of global privacy and one of Apple’s three “privacy czars,” who are required to sign off on any product or service that collects customer data before it is launched. She was named Chief Privacy Officer last year.
At Apple, Horvath was tasked with scrutinizing data issues from a legal and policy perspective. She also echoed the view of the company’s board on privacy matters and was reportedly hired to solidify privacy rules.
Horvath’s role at Apple has become increasingly pivotal to the company’s strategy in recent years. Apple has framed privacy as the centrepiece of its marketing efforts, and the iPhone maker has even introduced more stringent (albeit controversial) advertising and user tracking policies that have crippled ad-reliant rivals’ revenues while boosting its own.
Horvath’s next place of employment, Gibson Dunn, represented Apple in its recent legal battle with Epic Games. Apple has yet to publicly announce Horvath’s departure or her successor. As of writing, Horvath’s LinkedIn still lists her role at Apple.
