It gives me the creep to learn that a former DoubleClick personnel will be in charge of Homeland security privacy policy. I think whatever privacy we have left will be out the window pretty soon...... If you are not familiar with Doubleclick visit http://www.cdt.org/action/doubleclick.shtml and you will get a short and sweet (or sour?) description of what they do.
HOMELAND SECURITY APPOINTS PRIVACY OFFICER The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has named Nuala O'Connor Kelly as its first privacy officer. Prior to her current role as privacy officer and chief counsel for the Department of Commerce's Technology Administration, she was the privacy officer for online ad firm DoubleClick. As part of the DHS's creation last year, Congress mandated a privacy officer to protect U.S. citizens' privacy rights. Congress and privacy rights' advocates have expressed concern over programs O'Connor Kelly will oversee, such as the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System II (CAPPS II) and the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program. CAPPS II, currently being tested by Delta Airlines, assigns a color-coded threat level to travelers and runs background screenings that can include credit, banking, and criminal background checks. Congress has temporarily blocked funding for TIA, a data-mining program that seeks to track and capture potential terrorists through "information signatures." Internet News, 17 April 2003 http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2192521 --Nash
