Hugo Teufel III
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Hugo Teufel III (born July 25, 1961 in Albuquerque, NM, and raised in Wichita, KS and Denver, CO) was appointed as Chief Privacy Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by Secretary Michael Chertoff on 21 July 2006, after a ten-month vacancy that was filled by acting Chief Privacy Officer, Maureen C. Cooney. Teufel is the second chief privacy officer for the DHS, after Nuala O'Connor Kelly, appointed by Secretary Tom Ridge.
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[edit] Privacy Office
Created by Congress in 2002, the Privacy Office is intended to make one person responsible for monitoring government programs and new technologies that may affect U.S. citizens' privacy and personal information.[1] The organic authority for the Privacy Officer is found at Section 222of the Homeland Security Act. Additionally, the Privacy Officer serves as the Chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer for the department.
[edit] Appointment and Prior Experience
Teufel's appointment was not without detractors; some questioned Teufel's privacy policy background. Previous to the appointment, Teufel had been responsible for providing advice and counsel about Privacy Act and FOIA issues to cabinet-level agencies while serving as associate solicitor at the U.S. Department of the Interior (July 2001 to January 2004) and as DHS' associate general counsel (January 2004 to July 2006). Teufel also served as deputy Solicitor General for the state of Colorado from 1997 to 1999.
From 1991 until 1996, he was an associate with McKenna & Cuneo, LLP, focusing on government contracts and litigation against the United States. From 1999 until 2001 has a special counsel with the Rocky Mountain regional firm of Hall & Evans, focusing on public policy and government contracts. From 1990 to 1991, he clerked for Chief Judge Loren A. Smith of the United States Claims Court.
[edit] Background
Teufel was born in 1961 to Hugo Teufel, Jr. and the former Carmen Margarite Trujillo. Teufel's father, Dr. Hugo Teufel, Jr., was born in Philadelphia, PA, and grew up in Wichita, KS, before receiving a master's and a doctorate in mathematics and becoming a mathematics professor at Wichita State University. His mother studied anthropology at the University of New Mexico and she has a bachelor's degree in the field.
Teufel attended Denver Lutheran High School in Denver, Colorado, graduating in 1979. In 1985, he graduated from Metropolitan State College with a degree in Economics and a minor in German. In 1990 he graduated from the Washington College of Law at American University, where he was an editor of The Administrative Law Journal (which has since merged with the American Bar Association's Administrative Law Review.)
In 1998-1999, while working at the Colorado Attorney General's Office, Teufel underwent law enforcement training at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, CO and received a certificate in law enforcement studies. He was P.O.S.T. certified in the state of Colorado.
Teufel currently is pursuing a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.[2]
Teufel previously was a member of the American Bar Association and has been a regular speaker at ABA events. He is also a member of the Federalist Society.
Teufel is married, has a daughter, and resides in Alexandria, VA.
