Homeland Security Privacy Chief Urges More Ways to Protect Data

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief privacy officer is calling for stricter rules to protect consumer data.

Lynn Parker Dupree, who was appointed to the post nearly one year ago, told the Federal News Network that systems should be designed to prioritize the protection and confidentiality of information.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “has been very clear about the importance of addressing privacy upfront and has been very deliberate on including the privacy office early and often in policy discussions,” Dupree told the news service.

The mission of the DHS Privacy Office is to protect the public while embedding and enforcing privacy protections and transparency, according to the agency’s website.

Before joining DHS, Dupree held a similar role at Capital One Financial Corp. In that position, her work focused on the implementation of the California Consumer Privacy Act, as well as initiatives related to data sharing and data retention.

The Privacy Office has not only been focused on protecting the health of the DHS workforce during the pandemic and combating domestic terrorism, but also the use of emerging technologies such as biometrics, Dupree said in the report.

“One of the things I would like to do is really begin to include privacy in technical designs,” Dupree told the news organization. “A lot of our privacy mitigations happen after a technology is developed. But I have been really working with academia and technologists to figure out how we can build tools that actually enhance privacy.”

While Dupree did not mention facial recognition, the technology has raised questions about privacy.

The IRS announced it will not proceed with the use of a private facial recognition system to authenticate taxpayers’ identities for online accounts, responding to criticism over privacy concerns.

Read more: IRS Backs Down on Facial Recognition System

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said everyone should feel comfortable about how their personal information is secured, and the agency is pursuing short-term options that do not involve facial recognition.