This post of hers made my jaw drop:

Slashdot says:

D. Reed Freeman, the "Chief Privacy Officer" of Claria Networks (formerly Gator), the creators of the pervasive spyware package GAIN, has been appointed to the Department of Homeland Security's "Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee".

And in related news, the Bush administration announced today that Jack Kevorkian will be coming on board as the new head of the Department of Health.

In case you don't know what GAIN/Gator is, you're lucky: it's perhaps the most annoying, invasive software ever devised. Don't install it, ever. See Google for the gory details.

So when read this I thought: surely this is some kind of joke? Or maybe the guy has some technical skills that will come in handy?

Sadly, No!

It turns out to be 100% true, according to the DHS website:

D. Reed Freeman, Jr., Chief Privacy Officer at Claria, Arlington, VA. Mr. Freeman, a Certified Information Privacy Professional, works on privacy issues with emerging technology at a small business. Previously, he was a member of Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC, and a staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Freeman is serving a 4-year term.

This is what Claria said about him, per one Slashdot commenter:

Claria Corporation, www.claria.com, today announced that D. Reed Freeman, Jr. will assume the position of Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs for the company. Mr. Freeman, a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC, will spearhead Claria's continued commitment to industry-leading online advertising privacy practices. He will also represent Claria's interests both in Washington and internationally, coordinating Claria's efforts on policy matters.

As the commenter put it, he's a lobbyist, not a technical guy by any means.

Just another day in the Bush administration.

UPDATE: For more on Freeman, see veteran spyware-tracker Ben Edelman, who politely calls Freeman a liar here.