This year’s Data Privacy Week drew attention to the increasing role that cybersecurity is playing for government. Public agencies are responding via new hiring but still face big challenges.
More states — and some counties — are hiring privacy officers, but even more help is needed, especially professionals who can make sure health-care data is better protected. In the wake of this year’s Data Privacy Week, a look at the privacy protection landscape for state and local governments found many reasons for optimism — but more than a few areas of concern.
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Risks of hacking and ransomware — along with election security — continue to command the focus of public officials across the U.S., especially as more government services and operations migrate online. Tech bans and the rise of managed services in the government technology industry are among the responses. So, too, is the growing popularity among states of putting designated professionals in charge of privacy.
At the start of 2021, the number of states that had a chief privacy officer was “in the teens,” according to Amy Hille Glasscock, program director for innovation and emerging issues at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO).
“Now we are well into the 20s,” she said. “In addition, more states have written the role into statute or are at least considering it in current legislative sessions.” In fact, NASCIO in 2021 for the first time brought together in-person state privacy officers to share their experiences, she said.
It’s not just states that are hiring chief privacy officers. So are some counties, including Santa Clara County in the tech-rich Bay Area, with nearly 2 million residents. In late 2022, the county hired Chris Pahl, whose experience includes cybersecurity and privacy leadership for an electric utility, as its new chief privacy officer.
In announcing the hire, county officials wrote that Pahl wants to “become more consumer-facing, which he envisions as offering more in-person meetings and conversations with the community to share important information and tips on how to stay safe in our increasingly digital world.”
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*Government Technology is a sister publication to Industry Insider — California. Both are part of e.Republic.
