More States Appoint ‘Chief Privacy Officers’ to Protect People’s Data
Chief privacy officers, long employed by companies, are no longer rare in state government.
May 14, 2021 • In this age of hackers and cybercriminals, every state has a top security official focused on preventing breaches and protecting the vast amounts of data it collects. Now, a growing number also are hiring a top official to make sure that the privacy of residents’ personal data is protected as well.
Many large companies have employed chief privacy officers for years, but they were rare in state government. A decade ago, there were only a few; today, at least eight states have them Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and West Virginia, according to the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. Arkansas hired its first in June.
âThis [vaccine] is a miracle of modern science, and itâs so important to get it as fast as possible to all the people, and yet all the secondary questions have been left aside,â said Adam Tanner, an associate professor at the Harvard University Institute for Quantitative Social Science.
He is also the author of Our Bodies, Our Data: How Companies Make Billions Selling Our Medical Records, which explores the market for de-identified health data. âWhat happens to all these people whose data you now have in great volume?â
Privacy advocates warn retail pharmacies in particular are blurring the line between public health and commerce. For example, Walgreens required all customers seeking a vaccine appointment to make an account, including an opt-in to marketing emails, ReCode reported.
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