Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security

Last updated
Chief Privacy Officer
Chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer
Agency overview
Agency executives
  • Mary Ellen Callahan,
    Chief Privacy Officer
    Chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer
  • [ 2009 - 2012 ]
Parent agency Department of Homeland Security
Website DHS Official site

Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security is an appointed position within the United States Department of Homeland Security, which is part of the federal government of the United States in the United States. The chief privacy officer also serves as the chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officer at the Privacy Office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

United States Department of Homeland Security cabinet department of the United States federal government

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a cabinet department of the U.S. federal government with responsibilities in public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management. It was created in response to the September 11 attacks and is the youngest U.S. cabinet department.

Federal government of the United States national government of the United States

The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a federal republic in North America, composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and several island possessions. The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the federal courts, respectively. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of congress, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.

The Privacy Office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was created by Congress in 2002. It is the first statutorily required privacy office in any federal agency, whose mission is to preserve and enhance privacy protections for all individuals, to promote the transparency of Department of Homeland Security operations, and to serve as a leader in the federal privacy community. The Privacy Office is headed by the Chief Privacy Officer, who is appointed by the Secretary of the Department Homeland Security. The Office is staffed by privacy and data security professionals, including a Deputy Chief Privacy Officer, a Chief Counsel, and advisers who work with other federal agencies as well as the DHS Data and Privacy Integrity Committee.

Contents

Purpose of position

Pursuant to Section 222 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, The chief privacy officer has primary responsibility for privacy policy at the Department of Homeland Security. Their responsibilities include:

Privacy Act of 1974

The Privacy Act of 1974, a United States federal law, establishes a Code of Fair Information Practice that governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies. A system of records is a group of records under the control of an agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifier assigned to the individual. The Privacy Act requires that agencies give the public notice of their systems of records by publication in the Federal Register. The Privacy Act prohibits the disclosure of information from a system of records absent of the written consent of the subject individual, unless the disclosure is pursuant to one of twelve statutory exceptions. The Act also provides individuals with a means by which to seek access to and amendment of their records and sets forth various agency record-keeping requirements. Additionally, with people granted the right to review what was documented with their name, they are also able to find out if the "records have been disclosed".. and are also given the rights to make corrections.

The chief privacy officer oversees the Privacy Office, an agency staffed by over fifty privacy and data security professionals including a deputy chief privacy officer, a chief counsel, and advisors who maintain liaison with the DHS Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee.

The chief privacy officer is a position mandated by statute and appointed by the United States Secretary of Homeland Security. In 2003, Secretary Tom Ridge appointed the department's first chief privacy officer, Nuala O'Connor Kelly, who held a similar post at the Department of Commerce. Hugo Teufel, III, former associate general counsel and chief counsel for privacy at DHS, was appointed as its second chief privacy officer in 2006 by Secretary Michael Chertoff. In 2009, Secretary Janet Napalitano appointed Mary Ellen Callahan to the post.

United States Secretary of Homeland Security head of the United States Department of Homeland Security

The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the U.S. and the safety of U.S. citizens. The secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The new department consisted primarily of components transferred from other cabinet departments because of their role in homeland security, such as the Coast Guard, the Federal Protective Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Secret Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It did not, however, include the FBI or the CIA.

See also

Freedom of Information Act (United States) US statute

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, is a federal freedom of information law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government upon request. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures, and defines nine exemptions to the statute. President Lyndon B. Johnson, despite his misgivings, signed the Freedom of Information Act into law on July 4, 1966, and it went into effect the following year.

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Homeland Security Act Post-9/11 United States law establishing the Department of Homeland Security

The Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002, was introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent mailings of anthrax spores. The HSA was cosponsored by 118 members of Congress. The act passed the U.S. Senate by one vote, with the pivotal vote in a tied Senate being cast by Independent Dean Barkley. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush in November 2002.

Hugo Teufel III was appointed as Chief Privacy Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by Secretary Michael Chertoff on 21 July 2006, after a ten-month vacancy that was filled by acting Chief Privacy Officer, Maureen C. Cooney. Teufel is the second chief privacy officer for the DHS, after Nuala O'Connor Kelly, appointed by Secretary Tom Ridge. He left the Department on January 20, 2009, with the change of administrations. In April 2009, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP announced that Teufel had joined the firm as a director in the firm's advisory practice.

Sensitive Security Information

Sensitive Security Information (SSI) is a category of sensitive but unclassified information under the United States government's information sharing and control rules. SSI is information obtained in the conduct of security activities whose public disclosure would, in the judgement of specified government agencies, harm transportation security, be an unwarranted invasion of privacy, or reveal trade secrets or privileged or confidential information. SSI is governed by Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), parts 15 and 1520.

The Automated Targeting System or ATS is a United States Department of Homeland Security computerized system that, for every person who crosses U.S. borders, scrutinizes a large volume of data related to that person, and then automatically assigns a rating for which the expectation is that it helps gauge whether this person may be placed within a risk group of terrorists or other criminals. Similarly ATS analyzes data related to container cargo.

Einstein was originally an intrusion detection system that monitors the network gateways of government departments and agencies in the United States for unauthorized traffic. The software was developed by the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), which is the operational arm of the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The program was originally developed to provide "situational awareness" for the civilian agencies. While the first version examined network traffic and subsequent versions examined content, the current version of Einstein is significantly more advanced.

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The Federal Chief Information Officer of the United States, also known as the United States Chief Information Officer, is the administrator of the Office of Electronic Government, which is part of the Office of Management and Budget. The President appoints the Federal CIO. The appointee does not require Senate confirmation. It was created by the E-Government Act of 2002.

Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis

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Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management

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Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act is a United States federal law designed to "improve cybersecurity in the United States through enhanced sharing of information about cybersecurity threats, and for other purposes". The law allows the sharing of Internet traffic information between the U.S. government and technology and manufacturing companies. The bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate on July 10, 2014, and passed in the Senate October 27, 2015. Opponents question CISA's value, believing it will move responsibility from private businesses to the government, thereby increasing vulnerability of personal private information, as well as dispersing personal private information across seven government agencies, including the NSA and local police.

TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2014

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References

  1. ↑ Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress. "Homeland Security Act of 2002" (PDF). United States Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 2007-11-05.


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