What Happened?
Seattle has rolled out a new privacy initiative to better safeguard city department data. The city is working with public agencies and the private sector to facility consistent compliance of the policy citywide.
Goal
The Seattle privacy initiative was created to not only increase data security but also improve the city’s transparency with the public on how information is collected and used. By building stronger trust between the public and private sectors, Seattle hopes to invest in innovative technologies in the future that leverage data to improve community services and operations.
Process
Seattle’s privacy initiative calls for the creation of an interdepartmental team with representatives from a variety of public agencies and the mayor’s office. There will also be a privacy advisory committee made up of nine academic and community privacy experts to advice the interdepartmental team. This privacy advisory committee will be in charge of developing privacy principles based on case studies and research. These principles will then form the foundation of the citywide privacy program.
From there, the interdepartmental team will write up the privacy statement and governance documents outlining compliance with the regulations. Each public department will have their privacy practices assessed and given recommendations on how to improve and comply with the new policy. Moving forward there will be an ongoing privacy program to maintain and update the privacy policy to ensure safe data governance.
Payouts
Seattle will create several deliverables through the privacy initiative for the private and public sectors to utilize to ensure policy compliance:
- Privacy principles: Statement of approach
- Privacy statement: Minimum practices for data collection and use
- Privacy toolkit: Guidance documents and a collection planning checklist
- Privacy assessment results: Recommendations for improvements
- Privacy program structure: Structure for maintaining privacy principles in the future
The city expects to have all major stages of the initiative’s rollout to be completed by spring 2015.
Why The Push for Privacy?
There is increasing research underscoring the need for organizations to take data privacy seriously, as stolen or lost organization information is damaging to the bottom line as well as reputation.
According to the Ponemon Institute, organizational leadership across several industries is failing to protect against data loss resulting from poor file sharing practices. Surveying IT professionals in the U.S., U.K. and Germany, the study found:
- 49 percent believe their organization lacks clear visibility into employees’ use of file sharing technology
- 51 percent do not believe their organization has the ability to manage and control user access to important data
- More than 50 percent have policies governing file sharing, but these regulations are communicated poorly
- 611 percent have demonstrated poor file sharing practices in the workplace
In addition, a CompTIA study found new privacy challenges are emerging now that more organizations are reliant on cloud computing technology. While the solutions offer several benefits, employers are still reporting complex integration barriers when customizing their cloud computing resources for everyday use.
Employers are migrating to cloud computing platforms to save money while accelerating connectivity. The technology is now used for storage, business continuity and disaster recovery, and security processes. To maintain the cost savings associated with cloud computing, agencies are looking for employees well-versed in the technology’s functionality.
Protect that Data
Gov1 has reported on several open data trends cities are adopting to make better use of available information, as well as the precautionary steps municipalities must take to protect these innovations.