Cate's Opinions Noted in Address by Secretary of Homeland Security
On Sept. 26, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff quoted Professor Fred H. Cate
during a keynote address to the 29th annual International Conference of Data Protection Commissioners in Montreal.
Secretary Chertoff said, "In his prepared remarks to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board last December, Fred H. Cate, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research at Indiana University, noted that he had 'been struck by how closely connected [privacy and security] really are.'"
"Professor Cate believes that good privacy protection not only can help build support for the appropriate use of personal data to enhance security, it can also contribute to making those tools more effective," he said. "I agree with Professor Cate. Our efforts to protect privacy need not harm our security."
Cate frequently advises policymakers and testifies before Congress on matters relating to information privacy and security. "I have met with Secretary Chertoff on several occasions, but I am surprised and delighted that he knew of my testimony or shared these views," Cate said. "The fact that he even chose to attend, much less deliver the keynote address at the international data protection commissioners conference, suggests that the administration may be recognizing the need to grapple more effectively with these issues and to do so in the company of other nations."
Cate served as counsel to the Department of Defense Technology and Privacy Advisory Committee, reporter for the third report of the Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Technical and Privacy Dimensions of Information for Terrorism Prevention and Other National Goals and is the reporter for the American Law Institute's project on Principles of the Law on Government Access to and Use of Personal Digital Information.
.More about Fred H. Cate
Professor Cate specializes in information privacy and security law issues, testifying frequently before Congress and regularly speaking for industry, professional, and
government groups.
He recently hosted "U.S. Document Production and International Data Protection: Managing Conflicting Requirements" an international conference for law firms and multinational corporations to explore the conflict between U.S. discovery requirements and national data protection laws, and to consider how companies can best manage the risk.
Cate is a member of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Academic Advisory Board, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Technical and Privacy Dimensions of Information for Terrorism Prevention and Other National Goals, and the Research Steering Committee of the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection. He also serves as reporter for the American Law Institute's project on Principles of the Law on Government Access to and Use of Personal Digital Information.