The Brave New Frontier of Public Sector Privacy.

• Author: Barrett, Katherine
• Position: PERSPECTIVE

Cybersecurity efforts have been the main way state and local governments have tried to secure data from the prying eyes of potential malefactors. But breaches are inevitable--the bad guys frequently seem to be at least a little step ahead of the good guys in that domain. As a result, privacy is the key for entities that are interested in taking a prophylactic approach toward securing confidential records.

It's no surprise then that a recent study by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers [NASCIO] reported that: "In the last decade there has been immense growth in the state chief privacy officer [CPO] role. As demand increases for online services and states capture more personally identifiable information from citizens, more states are emphasizing the importance of privacy."

The speed with which that title is gaining currency, at least at the state level, is impressive, with 21 states reporting that they had a chief privacy officer role in May 2022, up from 12 in 2019, accordingto NASCIO.

At the local level, the chief privacy officer position is somewhat less widespread, but that doesn't mean cities and counties aren't carefully focusing on privacy issues as well--often through staffers within their chief information officer's shop. "I think the issue of privacy has burst onto the scene nationally," said Katy Ruckle, chief privacy officer for the State of Washington.

With faith in government at a historic low, there's probably been no better time to reassure people that governments are being careful with the reams of data they collect from them. "Privacy can help build better trust with the public," said Daren Arnold, chief privacy officer for the State of Ohio. "I think people have this feeling that they have to turn over information to whatever government agency requests it, but they have no say as to how it's going to be used. But if there are proper rules around that information and if it's used for the purpose for which it's provided, that will build trust."

Naturally, finance offices need to be abundantly careful about maintaining privacy of the data they receive directly through one means or another, from tax returns to bids for procurements to internal records of the finance offices themselves, such as the social security numbers of employees.

And that's just the beginning. Because finance offices are often sharing data with other agencies, they carry the heavy burden of helping to ensure that information isn't...