Mr. Jonathan Cantor became the Acting Chief Privacy Officer and Chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer in July 2016. He previously served in this capacity from August 2012 to October 2013. In this role, Mr. Cantor serves as the principal advisor to the DHS Secretary on privacy policy, and is responsible for evaluating department-wide programs, systems, technologies, and rule-makings for potential privacy impacts, and for providing mitigation strategies to reduce those impacts.
Mr. Cantor joined DHS as Deputy Chief Privacy Officer on July 1, 2012. He is a member of the Senior Executive Service, with nearly 20 years of experience in privacy, transparency, and information access.
Mr. Cantor previously served as the Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Commerce, and the senior privacy official at the Social Security Administration. He served as the Department of Commerce’s first Chief Privacy Officer, charged with developing a departmental program, where he led the Department’s Open Government activities and helped improve its FOIA program. He also contributed to the Administration’s Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, and other projects involving landmark privacy policy. At the Social Security Administration, he was responsible for revamping the agency’s privacy regulations, and led Social Security’s transition to a modern privacy program designed for the Internet age.
He currently serves as co-chair of the Federal Privacy Council’s Federal Privacy Workforce Committee, is a member of the Government Technology Research Alliance, and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Access Professionals. Previously, he was co-chair of the Federal CIO Council Privacy Committee. He is also a long-time member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and holds CIPP/US and CIPP/G certifications.
Mr. Cantor graduated cum laude from Duke University, and received his J.D. with honors from The George Washington University Law School.