The Department of Homeland Security is proud to welcome Megan H. Mack as the new Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Karen Neuman as the new Chief Privacy Officer. Both bring a wealth of experience from the public and private sectors, which will serve them well as they advise the Secretary and lead the Department’s efforts to protect privacy and uphold civil rights and civil liberties. The Department is strongly committed to the work of these offices, and has built privacy and civil rights protections into its operations, policies, programs, and technology deployments from the outset of their development.
Megan H. Mack will lead the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), which supports DHS by ensuring individual liberty, fairness, and equality under the law across the Department. CRCL is committed to the idea that core civil rights—liberty, fairness, and equality under the law—are essential American values, and is dedicated to instilling these ideals into the daily work of securing our nation. The office integrates and promotes civil rights and civil liberties in policy creation and implementation and communicates with individuals and communities whose civil rights and civil liberties may be affected by DHS activities.
Prior to her appointment, Ms. Mack was the Director of the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration and was previously the Supervisor of Legal Services for Hogar Hispano, Catholic Charities Diocese of Arlington in Falls Church, Va. She has also served as a Litigation Associate at Foley Hoag LLP in Boston, and a Law Clerk to Judge Fred I. Parker in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Burlington, Vt. Ms. Mack received an A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School.
Karen Neuman will lead the DHS Privacy Office, which is responsible for evaluating Department programs, systems, and initiatives for potential privacy impacts, and providing mitigation strategies to reduce negative privacy impacts. The Privacy Office – the first statutorily required privacy office of any Federal agency –partners with every DHS component to assess policies, programs, systems, technologies, and rulemakings for privacy risks, and recommends privacy protections and methods for handling personally identifiable information. To further integrate privacy and reinforce the headquarters privacy office, a team of privacy officers are embedded into the operational components throughout the Department.
Ms. Neuman was previously a founding partner of St. Ledger-Roty Neuman & Olson LLP where she headed the firm’s privacy and data security practice. She has over two decades of experience in diverse markets of the communications industry, including digital media, telecommunications and cable, and deep expertise in and experience counseling clients on global privacy law and policy. She previously was the Senior Counsel for Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Brandon & Associates, an Associate at Miller and Holbrooke, and an associate another law firm. Early in her career, Karen worked for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, where she served as a state staff member of the FCC Federal-State Joint Board Staff.