2017 Federal Identity Forum & Homeland Security

Laurence Castelli
Special Counselor and Senior Advisor
Privacy Office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security


Laurence Castelli is presently serving, on detail, as a Senior Advisor and Special Counselor to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chief Privacy Officer to lead the Privacy Office effort to update the department-wide privacy compliance for the DHS maintenance and use of the biometrics that it collects or receives. Prior to his detail, Mr. Castelli served as the first CBP Privacy Officer. He concluded this service with the successful transition of CBP Privacy from its origins as the Privacy Act Policy and Procedures Branch within the Office of Regulations & Rulings to its current location in the Privacy Division, within the Privacy and Diversity Office under the Office of the Commissioner. Mr. Castelli began his government service in 1989 with the former U.S. Customs Service (an antecedent of the current U.S. Customs and Border Protection) as an attorney-advisor for the Penalties Branch, Office of Regulations & Ruling, handling a variety of civil trade enforcement and commercial fraud cases. Following his rotation in the Penalties Branch, Mr. Castelli moved to the Disclosure Law Branch, where he began to practice information law and management—an area of law and policy that has defined his professional career. An expert in the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts, Mr. Castelli was appointed the Chief of the newly created Privacy Act Policy and Procedures Branch in 2005. During his service as Branch Chief and CBP Privacy Officer Mr. Castelli was responsible for many of CBP’s ground breaking privacy compliance accomplishments concerning the Automated Targeting System, Border Searches of Electronic Devices, the Automated Commercial Environment, and Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

Sessions :