Alan Charles Raul is a lawyer in Washington who previously served as vice chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget.
Here’s a snippet from his OpEd in a recent issue of Washington Post:
A good start to untangling all this would be establishing a senior White House privacy position that answers to the president but is also responsive to Congress. This office would coordinate the numerous U.S. data protection agencies and agendas, and represent the United States internationally. It would have to cover both commercial and national security privacy because these issues have become interrelated in the public mind.
OMB is the place to appoint such a czar. It, uniquely, has the clout and crosscutting perspective to exercise effective authority on behalf of the president. Moreover, it already holds significant statutory responsibility for data protection, information security and the Privacy Act. Only a new coordinator could synthesize — and, possibly, rationalize — the extensive array of privacy standards that govern different industry sectors and federal agencies. The OMB coordinator would have the mission to promote privacy policies that respect human dignity and also advance society’s interest in innovation and economic growth. And when the next privacy issue arises, or even before it does, there would be a champion for new ideas and public engagement.
Read more on Washington Post. Comments under the OpEd do not seem to agree with Raul.