The National Security Agency's newest employee has her work cut out for her, based on the surveillance information leaked from the organization in the past seven months.
The NSA has hired Rebecca Richards as its first civil liberties and privacy officer, the agency's latest measure to regain the public's trust after months of global debate on government surveillance. Richards comes to the NSA from the Department of Homeland Security, where she held a similar position.
"NSA continues to take positive actions to ensure we protect both civil liberties and national security," NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander said in a Wednesday statement.
Richards will be responsible for advising the agency's director and senior leadership, as well as developing procedures to ensure the NSA's global surveillance doesn't encroach on peoples' privacy. By law, the NSA is not allowed to spy on Americans. President Barack Obama, in a speech outlining several significant NSA reforms, said the agency would extend surveillance protections to innocent foreign citizens.
Obama first mentioned the NSA would be hiring a privacy officer in an Aug. 9 speech, during which he proposed a number of new transparency measures for the agency.
The NSA posted a job listing for the "completely new role" in September.
Alexander said he expects Richards to work with civil liberties and privacy experts to develop safeguards.
"An internal privacy officer does not solve the privacy and other problems revealed in the last seven months," Michelle Richardson, legislative council for the American Civil Liberties Union, told Mashable in an email. "It will take legislative changes and court rulings to make real substantive improvements to the law."
Richardson said the ACLU doesn't yet have an opinion on Richards personally, but noted that the new NSA officer "has a big task" in front of her.