DHS Privacy Officer Resigns

Nuala O’Connor Kelley, the Department of Homeland Security’s first chief privacy officer, announced last week that she is leaving the department to take a position in the private sector.

According to an article by Michael Arnone on the Federal Computer Week website, Kelly finished up at the department last Friday to move to a job in the private sector, reportedly at General Electric Co.

Arnone says Kelly gave her notice to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff in early September. DHS spokesperson Valerie Smith told Arnone that Maureen Cooney, Kelly’s chief of staff, will be acting chief privacy officer until Kelly is officially replaced.

Kelly’s position was responsible for “ensuring that new and existing technologies that DHS uses to protect the country do not infringe on individuals’ privacy,” Arnone says.

In the wake of her departure, Kelly received commendation for her work as privacy officer at the DHS. “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,” Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project, told Arnone.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.fcw.com/article90954-09-28-05-Web