Obama is Late Again in Keeping Privacy Promise

When it comes to cybersecurity, President Obama is a man of his word, even if it feels as if it takes forever for him to fulfill a promise. Remember, Obama promised to name a cybersecurity coordinator in his May 29 White House cybersecurity speech, but didn't fulfill that pledge till nearly Christmas, almost seven months later with the appointment of Howard Schmidt.

Obama, that same spring day, vowed to reconstitute the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, and perhaps in an oversight, hasn't yet kept that promise, nearly 9½ months later. But Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, in a letter to Obama dated Monday and released Tuesday, urged the president to act quickly:

"Having a fully functional Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is a key step in protecting the privacy and civil liberties of all Americans. Given the many pressing privacy and civil liberties issues facing our nation, including the timely issues related to counterterrorism and cybersecurity policies, the vital board has remained vacant for far too long."

Congress established the board in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, a result of a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission that privacy and civil liberties be protected as the government imposed antiterrorist measures. The Bush administration was slow to name members to the board, but for about a year - from early 2006 to early 2007 - the board functioned as is was supposed to, meeting with the president's national security advisers, the attorney general and FBI director, among others. According to an article written by its then vice chairman, Alan Charles Raul, the board was fully briefed on the most closely held program involving terrorist surveillance at President Bush's personal direction. But a reorganization of the board in 2007 weakened it, Raul contends, and Bush let it lapse.

Last April, Leahy in a letter co-signed by Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter, then the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, urged Obama to reconstitute the board. And, in his Cyberspace Policy Review issued a month later, Obama pledged to do just that. Obama's Cyberspace Policy Review states:

"It is important to reconstitute the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, accelerate the selection process for its board members, and consider whether to seek legislative amendments to broaden its scope to include cybersecurity-related issues."

The Cyberspace Policy Review explains that such a structure would signal transparency and build trust between the civil liberties and privacy community, the public and the program for cybersecurity, especially if implemented from the outset.

At last week's RSA Conference 2010, several top administration officials emphasized the importance of privacy and civil liberties as a function of cybersecurity, as Schmidt said in is keynote address:

"Transparency provides the American people with the ability to partner with government and participate meaningfully in the discussion about how we can use the extraordinary resources and expertise of the intelligence community with proper oversight for the protection of privacy and civil liberties."

I queried the White House Tuesday afternoon on when the president will follow through on his pledge to name members to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. As of this writing, about two hours later, I haven't received a reply. I'll let you know as soon as I get one.