Privacy officials urged lawmakers to legislate a chief privacy officer position at the Office of Management and Budget to oversee federal privacy issues.

According to Federal Computer Week, officials urged a House Judiciary Committee panel to name a single person at the Office of Management and Budget rather than require one at every government agency.

“I urge you to create a statutory privacy officer at OMB, an office headed by the chief counselor for privacy,” said Sally Katzen, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and former policy official under the Clinton administration. “We had such an office and it served us well. It’s unfortunate that the current administration has chosen not to fill that position.”

Rather than mandating a privacy officer at every agency, as with the Homeland Security Department, Congress should establish the position at OMB and then examine agency by agency which ones might also need a mandated position, officials said, according to Federal Computer Week.

A chief privacy officer at OMB would advise agencies on federal privacy policies and direct the development of government-wide policies, Katzen said. “An office inside OMB can provide both institutional memory and sensitivity to combat the unfortunate tendency in government to surveil first and think later,” Katzen said.

Privacy officials urged lawmakers to legislate a chief privacy officer position at the Office of Management and Budget to oversee federal privacy issues.

According to Federal Computer Week, officials urged a House Judiciary Committee panel to name a single person at the Office of Management and Budget rather than require one at every government agency.

“I urge you to create a statutory privacy officer at OMB, an office headed by the chief counselor for privacy,” said Sally Katzen, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and former policy official under the Clinton administration. “We had such an office and it served us well. It’s unfortunate that the current administration has chosen not to fill that position.”

Rather than mandating a privacy officer at every agency, as with the Homeland Security Department, Congress should establish the position at OMB and then examine agency by agency which ones might also need a mandated position, officials said, according to Federal Computer Week.

A chief privacy officer at OMB would advise agencies on federal privacy policies and direct the development of government-wide policies, Katzen said. “An office inside OMB can provide both institutional memory and sensitivity to combat the unfortunate tendency in government to surveil first and think later,” Katzen said.