Verizon Appoints David Valdez to Direct Company's Industry-Leading Privacy Efforts

NEW YORK - Verizon has appointed David Valdez to succeed Shelley Harms in leading the company's privacy efforts.

Valdez, formerly of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), has worked on a wide range of telecommunications and Internet policy issues - including privacy and consumer protection. He also conducted workshops and advised government officials and other policy makers from the international community how to develop policies that foster an e-commerce marketplace.

"I am very excited about the opportunity to join such a dynamic and well-respected company as the new director for privacy," said Valdez. "Verizon has established itself as a leader in this area and I look forward to helping the company maintain that position."

Harms is retiring after leading the company's privacy efforts since 1994 when she began directing privacy issues for the former NYNEX. As one of the country's first corporate privacy leaders, Harms played a critical role in making Verizon a national leader in protecting consumers' privacy. During her tenure, Verizon forged one of the industry's first set of "privacy principles" and the company partnered on several important consumer educational programs with privacy seal organization TRUSTe and the On-Line Privacy Alliance.

"While we are welcoming David to take over this important role for Verizon, we also want to recognize the pioneering work Shelley has done in crafting, executing and overseeing our privacy policies," said Jeff Ward, Verizon senior vice president for regulatory compliance. "We look forward to the same type of leadership from David."

"This has been a challenging and rewarding assignment, and I will sincerely miss the people I worked with on this issue as I begin a new phase in my life," said Harms. "I know Verizon and the issue of privacy are in good hands with David Valdez."

Prior to his work with the NTIA, Valdez worked as an attorney with a Washington, D.C. law firm.

Valdez received a bachelor's degree from California State University at Northridge, and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law. He also earned an LLM in international and comparative law from Georgetown University Law Center.

Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 112 million access line equivalents and 27 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. A Fortune 10 company with approximately 260,000 employees and more than $65 billion in annual revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.