Homeland Security Names Privacy Officer

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- The Homeland Security Department on Friday selected one of its lawyers, Hugo Teufel III, as its new chief privacy officer. Privacy advocates outside government questioned his experience.

Teufel, who worked previously as a lawyer at the Interior Department, has been associate general counsel at the Homeland Security Department. DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff called Teufel an outstanding professional and said he relied on Teufel's judgment and advice.

Privacy advocates expressed concerns about what they described as Teufel's apparent lack of experience. He worked under Gale Norton in Colorado and in Washington after Norton became head of the Interior Department.

"This is not an appropriate appointment," said Marc Rotenberg, head of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, a leading privacy group that has been critical of DHS policies. "He lacks the relevant experience."

The head of the ACLU's Washington office, Caroline Fredrickson, agreed. "He doesn't have much of a background to be a privacy officer," she said. "He seems to have no experience in privacy matters."

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-privacy-official,0,2172407.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[SoCalDem]

1. he's a good whisperer though

:)

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Good joke. Teufel is "devil" in German, innit?

[MADem]

3. How long before we hear "Heckuva job, Teufel ??" NT

[Betsy Ross]

4. DHS Privacy Officer?

Much like our Attorney General, his job will be to make up justifications for invading our privacy. I think Drug Czar, Privacy Officer, fighting Drugs and fighting Privacy.