Privacy advocates call security board skewed

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Privacy advocates say a committee set up recently to advise the Homeland Security Department on privacy issues amounts to little more than a fox guarding a chicken coop.

One member works for a conglomerate whose subsidiary turned over personal records of airline passengers to a government contractor.

Another works for a defense contractor from which thieves stole personal information on thousands of employees, making them vulnerable to identity theft.

Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer of Counterpane Internet Security, a Mountain View, Calif., computer security company, and author of "Beyond Fear," said he looked at the list of 20 people on the panel and laughed.

"It's just plain weird," Mr. Schneier said Thursday. "Where are all the privacy people?"

Nuala O'Connor Kelly, Homeland Security chief privacy officer, said the committee represents a cross section of viewpoints, including people who have criticized the department.

"We picked the best board from the people who applied," Miss Kelly said.

Privacy is a sensitive issue for the Homeland Security Department as it embarks on ambitious plans to look into the backgrounds of everyone who boards a plane, enters the country or works in the transportation industry.

But privacy advocates say Homeland Security's privacy board is skewed too heavily toward corporations, including Intel Corp., Computer Associates, IBM Corp. and Oracle Corp.