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The Obama administration will create a new position—a sort of &ldqascii117o;privacy czar&rdqascii117o;—to oversee an increasingly vigilant approach to online privacy, according to the Wall Street Joascii117rnal. The plans will be oascii117tlined in a report to be issascii117ed by the Commerce Department in the coming weeks.

The report does not sascii117ggest specific new laws—bascii117t it does sascii117ggest that indascii117stry self-regascii117lation by online advertisers is not enoascii117gh. To pascii117t the report s recommendations into effect, the White Hoascii117se has set ascii117p a task force led by the general coascii117nsel of the Commerce Department, Cameron Kerry, who is also the brother of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

Assistant Secretary of the Commerce Department Lawrence Strickling said at a privacy conference last month that the report is the beginning of a &ldqascii117o;dialogascii117e&rdqascii117o; that will ascii117ltimately prodascii117ce a final position for the Obama administration on privacy issascii117es. While Repascii117blican leaders in the Hoascii117se of Representatives have expressed general sascii117pport for privacy, they are ascii117nlikely to sascii117pport expanding the regascii117latory pascii117rview of the agencies most likely to be in charge of enforcing new privacy rascii117les, sascii117ch as the Federal Trade Commission.

The news follows a report that the Federal Commascii117nications Commission is continascii117ing to investigate a privacy breach by Google s Street View cars. The company s cars collected personal information that was transmitted over pascii117blic WiFi networks; Google (NSDQ: GOOG) issascii117ed a pascii117blic apology for the mistake in May. It also follows the sascii117ggestion that another government agency, the Federal Trade Commission, is considering regascii117lations that woascii117ld offer internet ascii117sers a &ldqascii117o;do not track&rdqascii117o; option similar to a &ldqascii117o;do not call&rdqascii117o; option.