Gordon Wasserman
Mr. Gordon Wasserman is an independent consultant specializing in the
management of police agencies, particularly their scientific,
technological and information support services.
Since August 1998, his principal client has been the City of
Philadelphia, for which he has acted as Senior Advisor to Police
Commissioners John Timoney and, presently, Sylvester Johnson. From October 1996 to August 1998, Wasserman was
Special Adviser (Science and Technology) to Police Commissioner Howard
Safir of New York City.
From 1983 to 1995, Wasserman was the Assistant Under Secretary of State for Police Science and Technology in
the British Government with responsibility for providing the full
range of information, technological and scientific support services to all
police forces in Great Britain. The
Home Office Forensic Science Service reported to him, and it was on his
watch that DNA technology was developed for forensic use.
Born and raised in Canada, Wasserman was educated at McGill University and
Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
Dr. Alan Westin
Dr. Alan Westin has been Professor of Public Law and Government at
Columbia University since 1959, and is considered the nation's leading
expert on information privacy. His books — Privacy and Freedom (1967),
Databanks in a Free Society (1972), and Computers, Health Records, and
Citizen Rights (1976) — are pioneering studies.
Over the past 40 years, Dr. Westin has been a member of federal and state
government privacy commissions; an expert witness before state and federal
legislative committees and regulatory agencies; and Academic Advisor to
Louis Harris & Associates (since 1978) for 15 national public opinion
and leadership surveys on privacy. These activities covered privacy issues
in financial services, consumer reporting, medicine and health,
telecommunication, employment, law enforcement, and social services.
Dr. Westin has been a privacy consultant to more than 100 major and
start-up companies, including IBM, Security Pacific National Bank,
Equifax, American Express, Citicorp, Bell Atlantic, Prudential, Bank of
America, Federal Express, Sentry Insurance, Control Data Corporation,
AT&T, Equitable Life, Exxon and Nabisco. He has written employee and
consumer privacy policies and codes for companies; conducted one-time and
continuing privacy audits of company information products and practices;
led manager and employee training programs on privacy; and briefed CEOs,
Senior Management Committees, and Boards of Directors on emerging trends,
peer-group activities and company choices relating to privacy.
He has also spoken at more than 500 national business and industry
meetings on privacy issues since early 1960s, as well as appearing on all
the national television networks to discuss current privacy developments
in business or government.
Dr. Westin was born in New York City. He earned his Baccalaureate Degree
from the University of Florida, an L.L.B. from Harvard Law School, and his
Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University. He is a member of the
District of Columbia Bar, and has been listed in Who's Who in America for
two decades.