[Infowarrior] - Probe of Homeland Security privacy office sought

[Richard Forno]

Probe of Homeland Security privacy office sought
Group says chief is enabling, not curbing, surveillance
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 27, 2009

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102602644_pf.html
Privacy advocates have asked lawmakers to investigate the Department  
of Homeland Security office in charge of protecting Americans'  
privacy, saying it has shown "an extraordinary disregard" for its duty.

In a letter sent Friday to the House Homeland Security Committee, 21  
organizations and seven people belonging to the Privacy Coalition say  
the department's chief privacy officer has seen its role as enabling,  
rather than curbing, government surveillance and intelligence programs.

"The job of Chief Privacy Officer is not to provide public relations  
for the Department of Homeland Security," stated the coalition letter,  
whose signers included the American Civil Liberties Union, Gun Owners  
of America, former congressman Robert L. Barr Jr. (R-Ga.) and  
libertarians inspired by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), a former presidential  
candidate. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public  
interest group in Washington, organized the coalition.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said the panel is aware  
of the issues raised by the letter. He added that it will review calls  
to investigate whether the agency has met the law's requirement of  
ensuring "that the use of technologies sustain, and do not erode,  
privacy protections," and if not, to create an independent oversight  
agency.

DHS spokeswoman Sara Kuban said: "The letter reflects a lack of  
understanding about the role and responsibilities" of Chief Privacy  
Officer Mary Ellen Callahan and her office.

"The Privacy Office is designed to serve as an integral part -- from  
the earliest stages -- of the policy-making process at the Department,  
and to ensure that privacy protections are proactively built into the  
Department's systems and technologies," Kuban said in an e-mail. A  
"European-style" independent officer would be unable to influence  
policies before they were enacted, she added.

Specifically, critics said the DHS office in the past year has  
assessed privacy effects of practices such as suspicionless searches  
of travelers' laptop computers and other electronic devices at border  
checkpoints, and funding for state and local police intelligence  
analysis centers, but has done little to scale them back.

DHS also apparently could not stop such practices as "whole body  
imaging" at airports. The government says such images cannot be  
recorded and are analyzed by security officers at remote locations who  
never see the passengers. Privacy advocates are skeptical that the  
technology will not be abused.

The rebuke comes amid growing frustration among civil liberties groups  
that President Obama has not made greater changes to post-Sept. 11,  
2001, security measures put in place by his predecessor, George W.  
Bush. In recent days, privacy advocates have criticized the White  
House's support for renewing the USA Patriot Act.