Lara currently serves as the Special Advisor for Privacy and Technology in the Office of Communications and Information Policy at the U.S. Department of State. She has been an Attorney-Adviser at the U.S. Department of State since 1999. Lara is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP), a certification issued by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). She has served as the State Department lead attorney on privacy and technology law, including but not limited to the Privacy Act of 1974, the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), and the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Lara has also defended the State Department in employment law litigation and has handled numerous discovery issues involving personal data, both in federal courts, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice, and in proceedings before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In the past she has litigated cases brought before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal and advised on various aspects of international criminal law.