DHS names new privacy officer

Hugo Teufel III, the Homeland Security Department’s associate general counsel, was appointed the department’s new chief privacy officer by DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Teufel was previously associate solicitor at the Interior Department and deputy solicitor general of Colorado before that.

DHS' previous acting chief privacy officer, Maureen Cooney, recently left to work in private practice after 20 years in the federal government.

Cooney was made DHS’ acting chief privacy officer in September 2005. Congress created the position in 2002 to monitor government programs and the effects of new technologies on privacy.

In announcing the new appointment, Chertoff said Teufel “is highly regarded throughout the department and the legal community for his expertise on privacy, employee relations and civil rights issues.”