Alston & Bird has expanded its Privacy & Data Security Practice with the addition of former White House privacy official Peter Swire as Senior Counsel.
Swire was President Clinton’s Chief Counselor for Privacy in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. He was one of five members of President Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology, formed in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations regarding surveillance activities by the U.S. National Security Agency. The Report of the Review Group received widespread public attention and was re-published as a book by the Princeton University Press.
“Peter is one of the world’s foremost leaders in privacy and security issues,” said Jim Harvey, partner and co-chair of Alston & Bird’s Privacy & Data Security Practice. “For more than two decades, he has been a primary participant in the complex struggle to balance privacy and security rights inside and outside of government.”
From 1999 through early 2001, Swire served as President Clinton’s Chief Counselor for Privacy at the Office of Budget and Management, making him the only person to date to have U.S. government-wide responsibility for privacy policy. In this role, Swire’s activities included being the White House lead for the HIPAA Privacy Rule, helping negotiate the Safe Harbor agreement with the European Union and chairing a 15-agency White House Working Group that focused on updating wiretap law for the Internet age. He later served as the Chair of the Do Not Track Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium and as a Special Assistant to President Obama for Economic Policy. He also serves as a Senior Fellow with the Future of Privacy Forum and is a Policy Fellow with the Center for Democracy and Technology.
“Privacy and cybersecurity are critical enterprise risk and governance issues for businesses across the globe,” said David Keating, Alston & Bird partner and co-chair of its Privacy & Data Security Practice. “Peter’s unparalleled experience and singular perspective on U.S. and global privacy and cybersecurity issues will be a tremendous asset to our clients.”
Swire is a frequent writer and speaker on privacy policy and cyberlaw. Among his many writings, he is the lead author for textbooks for the Certified Information Privacy Professional examinations, the leading professional privacy professional credential, issued by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. His writings and commentary have been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times and other major media. He is a regular speaker at government, industry and legal forums, including testimony before nine Congressional committees.
Swire said: “I am joining Alston & Bird because I see an opportunity to continue building one of the country’s pre-eminent privacy and cybersecurity groups.”
Swire will remain in his full-time role as the Nancy J. and Lawrence P. Huang Professor of Law and Ethics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He will be based in Alston & Bird’s Atlanta office.
Alston & Bird’s privacy, data and cybersecurity attorneys and public policy advisors comprise a multidisciplinary team with the extensive experience, knowledge of the law and vision to help clients transform the power of information into value for shareholders and customers. The team helps clients in significant data breach and network intrusion matters and at every step of the information life cycle, from developing and implementing corporate policies and procedures, to representation in transactional matters, public policy and legislative issues and litigation.
Source: www.alston.com
