An accelerating trend is the appointment of agency executives charged with protecting personal privacy. The IRS in 1993 appointed the federal government's first "privacy advocate," and Congress soon began requiring, through legislation, "chief privacy officers" in selected agencies. In 2007, Congress passed the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act, which extricate Congress from this thorny thicket by authorizing the Privacy and agencies that it chose to appoint privacy and civil liberties officers.