[Clips] Homeland Security privacy chief quits

[R.A. Hettinga]

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 Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2005 13:05:10 -0400
 To: Philodox Clips List <clips at philodox.com>
 From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
 Subject: [Clips] Homeland Security privacy chief quits
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 <http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/30/homeland_security_privacy_chief_quits?mode=PF>

 The Boston Globe

 Homeland Security privacy chief quits

 By Sara Kehaulani Goo and Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post  |  September 30,
 2005

 WASHINGTON -- Nuala O'Connor Kelly, who won praise for protecting
 Americans' privacy rights at the Department of Homeland Security but drew
 criticism for her office's lack of independence, stepped down yesterday
 after two years as the department's first chief privacy officer.

 The ombudsman-like job was created by Congress in 2002 to uphold the
 Privacy Act within a department that launched a series of ambitious
 security programs that affect millions of people, including airline
 travelers, truck drivers, and foreign visitors.

 Many groups that advocate greater privacy protections feared the chief
 privacy officer could have become a rubber stamp for the administration's
 homeland security agenda, but they credited O'Connor Kelly with
 establishing an office that won respect within and outside the
 administration.

 Former and current colleagues said O'Connor Kelly used a combination of her
 forceful personality and support of Tom Ridge, the department's first
 secretary, to ensure that her staff of 400 employees held its own inside
 the department.

 ''O'Connor Kelly has done a commendable job as Homeland Security's first
 chief privacy officer considering the limited independence of the job as it
 was created by Congress," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American
 Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Project said in a statement.
 ''But even as strong a privacy officer as O'Connor Kelly could only do so
 much with the powers that she was given."

 O'Connor Kelly has accepted a position as head of privacy issues for
 General Electric Co.

 Maureen Cooney, her chief of staff, has been named acting chief privacy
 officer.
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 R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
 The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
 "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
 [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
 experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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