b.cognosco

This is not the first time Barr has come down on the side of privacy advocates. Having served with both the US Attorney's office and the CIA, Barr knows something of the damage that such government entities can cause. And when he speaks about privacy issues, politicos have no choice but to take him seriously.

I disagree with Barr on many issues, but on this issue he deserves our full support. Those who oppose Barr across-the-board because of particular personal agenda items are doing themselves a disservice in the battle to maintain some level of privacy against our War-On-Terror-crazed government.

New York Times - free registration required Privacy Officer Is Possibility at Security Department.

Under Congressional pressure, the Bush administration said today that it was open to the idea of installing a chief privacy officer in a new Department of Homeland Security to make sure it weighed issues of confidentiality and the secure handling of personal information.

"If you bring us a proposal, I think we'd look at it very carefully," Mark W. Everson, controller of the Office of Management and Budget told Representative Bob Barr, Republican of Georgia, who heads the House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law. "Privacy is a very important function."

Mr. Barr opened a subcommittee hearing by asking Mr. Everson what steps would be taken "to ensure the privacy of personally identifiable information as the new agency establishes necessary databases that coordinate with other agencies of the government." [Privacy Digest]