Homeland Security taps privacy official

A former DoubleClick executive will become the first privacy official at the new Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday. Nuala O'Connor Kelly, 34, previously the chief privacy officer at the Internet advertising firm, currently is a senior attorney at the Commerce Department.

O'Connor Kelly's appointment comes as the Bush administration is under fire for data-mining plans like Total Information Awareness and CAPPS II, which profiles airline passengers. When debating the creation of the department last year, Congress required that the secretary appoint an official to ensure that new technologies sustain privacy protections and to verify that the agency's massive databases operate within federal guidelines.