Privacy Advocates Criticize Homeland Dept.

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- Privacy advocates say a committee set up recently to advise the Homeland Security Department on privacy issues amounts to little more than a fox guarding a chicken coop.
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Another works for a conglomerate whose subsidiary turned over personal records of airline passengers to a government contractor.

A third works for a defense contractor from which thieves stole personal information on thousands of employees, making them vulnerable to identity theft.

Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer of Counterpane Internet Security, a Mountain View, Calif., computer security company, and author of "Beyond Fear," said he looked at the 20-member list and laughed.
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The committee will meet four times a year and set its own agenda, Kelly said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-homeland-security-privacy,0,1240026.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines