About the IAPP

Linda S. Thomas began her Government service, while attending the University of Maryland, as a Clerk Typist for Department of the Navy.  Since then she has served at Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Department of Defense, as well as in private law practice.  She attended law school and was graduated cum laude from George Mason Law Center.  She is a member of the Virginia Bar, a Certified Information Privacy Professional in Government, a certified Project Management Professional, and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional.  Since 2004 she has focused exclusively on Federal information management matters including Privacy, FOIA, Paperwork Reduction Act compliance, Records Management, and Section 508 Compliance.  At DOI she worked initially full time in FOIA, then served as the Privacy Officer and Information Collection Clearance Officer for DOI’s Office of the Secretary, followed by several years in the DOI Departmental Privacy Office.  These Privacy Office duties included Privacy oversight and guidance of DOI bureaus, as well as inter-agency representation at the Information Sharing Environmental Privacy and Civil Liberties Committee, NARA’s Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) planning efforts, and the Federal CIO Council Privacy Committee including its Education Subcommittee.  Her responsibilities at DOI also included significant support for the Records Management program, serving, for example, as program manager of a large contract for enterprise electronic records management.  She has also created and delivered many training tools for these major Federal information management areas.  Since January 2012 she has served as the Chief, Privacy and Civil Liberties Office for the Defense Health Agency, including its transition from the former Tricare Management Activity to the current Defense Health Agency.  Her Office includes management of Privacy, HIPAA, FOIA, Civil Liberties, Data Sharing, and Human Research Protection for the agency which administers the TRICARE Health Plan for 9.5 million beneficiaries from the U.S. Military, retirees, and their families.  In addition to her law degree she holds two master’s degrees in the social sciences.  These varied educational and career efforts forged her appreciation for innovation and an understanding of synergies across disciplines.