Last modified: Monday, August 22, 2005
Law professor named to national committee on information for terrorism prevention
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUG. 22, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Fred H. Cate, Distinguished Professor of Law at the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington, has been appointed by the National Academy of Sciences to be a founding member of its Committee on Information for Terrorism Prevention: Balancing Privacy and National Security.
Fred Cate is the director of Indiana University's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research.
The committee will oversee a two-year study that will examine the potential efficacy of proposed uses of personal information to prevent terrorist attacks and how those uses affect individual privacy.
Cate, who also is the director of the IU Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, is a nationally recognized expert on the intersection of privacy and national security.
Previously, he served as counsel to the Pentagon's independent Technology and Privacy Advisory Committee. In June, Cate organized a meeting of experts on the subject for the American Law Institute, and in July, he was invited by Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff to meet with the secretary concerning the privacy impact of the department's activities.
At IU, Cate directs the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, which coordinates the university's research initiatives on information security, privacy and related issues.
"I am delighted that the National Academy of Sciences is taking on this important project," Cate said, "and I am honored to be part of it."
According to Cate, "Few issues are as important as the government's twin responsibilities for protecting national security and respecting personal privacy. The government's response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 has increasingly brought those two obligations into conflict, yet to date few concrete steps have been taken to minimize or avoid that conflict.
"If any organization can determine whether emerging government programs that require use of personal information to fight terrorism are effective or consistent with U.S. guarantees for privacy, it is the academy," Cate said.
The National Academy of Sciences was chartered by Congress and President Lincoln in 1863 to provide expert, independent advice to policymakers on issues in science, technology and public health.
The committee's report is expected to be completed by summer 2007.
