Department of Homeland Security Component Privacy Officer Act Of 2008

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, public trust in the Department's ability to protect personal privacy rights is abysmally low.

Recently, the Department's Inspector General determined that the Science and Technology Directorate's ADVISE program should be cancelled due to privacy concerns. This determination was made after the Department had spent $42 billion on the program. We also learned that the chief privacy officer was not brought into the process until almost 2 years after the system had been deployed.

This bill would put a privacy officer in the Science and Technology Directorate. Moreover, the Automated Targeting System, which is a Customs and Border Protection program, has been heavily criticized by privacy advocates. Again, this was a program that was operated for some time in the dark without proper safeguards and departmental oversight. Under this bill CBP would get a privacy officer too.

Quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, there has been a litany of DHS programs that have been cancelled, delayed, or discontinued due to privacy concerns. Almost all of these were the products of Department Component Agencies that do not have a privacy officer within their ranks.

H.R. 5170 will ensure that privacy protections and appropriate safeguards are part and parcel of how each component develops its policies and programs.

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