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Homeland Security Names New Privacy Officer

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 27, 2006

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has named Hugo Teufel III as its new privacy officer, the third person to hold the job. He previously served at DHS as Associate General Counsel.

Teufel replaces acting privacy officer Maureen Cooney, who resigned on July 17th to take a position as policy advisor at the Center for Policy and Leadership, headed by former FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle.

Cooney herself stepped in to replace Nuala O'Connor Kelly, who resigned from the position in September 2005 after blasting the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for utilizing information gathered on airline passengers collected from commercial databases. Kelly is currently chief privacy officer at General Electric.

O'Connor Kelly recently told government news service GovExec.com that whoever replaced Cooney would need to be a "forceful advocate for privacy." They deserve a leader that they respect as a manager and as a privacy expert," she said.

Teufel immediately faced criticism from privacy advocates and civil rights groups that he lacked the proper qualifications and experience for the position. Members of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) both stated that Teufel's lack of experience made him unqualified.

Prior to his appointment at DHS, Teufel was best known for being in-house counsel to Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton.

It was on Teufel's advice that Teresa Chambers, former chief of the U.S. Park Police, was fired after publicly lambasting the government for understaffing and underfunding her agency. Chambers had been on suspension for several months before the firing.

A major crime wave on and around National Park Service grounds in Washington followed Chambers' firing.

Ironically, in addition to Teufel, many members of the Department of the Interior resigned in the months after Chambers' firing provoked a public outcry, including Secretary Norton herself.

Teufel had also served as counsel at Denver Law Firm Hall & Evans LLC, as a clerk in the United States Court of Federal Claims, and as a procurement officer at the State Department.

At a conference for law, security, and technology issues held at the University of Mississippi in February 2005, Teufel stated that criticism of the department for ignoring civil liberties and privacy concerns was unfounded.

"We have officers whose job it is to make sure that the department does not intrude on the privacy rights of Americans or others who come to our country," Teufel said.

"The government will not conduct law enforcement activity outside of the boundaries of the Constitution," Teufel said at the time. "It is an enduring document, and we can't make it mean whatever we want whenever we want."

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