Happy March! We hope you had a Happy St. Patrick's Day!
The state Legislature's regular session is scheduled to end April 25, 2021 and our office continues to track several bills impacting privacy including legislation regarding COVID-19 health data.
House Bill 1127 will have many impacts to employers, schools, and other places of business in Washington state that are collecting COVID-19 data for health screening purposes. The measure has passed the House and is slated for a vote in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology on March 25.
There will be more to come next month as we monitor the bill's progress through the session. In the meantime, I presented a legislative update to the Technology Services Board on March 9th which was livestreamed on TVW. The legislative review starts at minute 53.
Congratulations are in order!
The National Governors Association (NGA) selected Washington along with three other states for an Academy on Cybersecurity Policy. WaTech's Office of Privacy and Data Protection along with the Office of Cybersecurity submitted an application for the NGA Center for Best Practices. The NGA selected the four states for its 2021 Policy Academy to Advance Whole-of-State Cybersecurity, the most recent in NGA's ongoing efforts since 2016 to help states and territories develop, refine and share best practices in cybersecurity governance, workforce development, critical infrastructure security, and local engagement and partnership.
Representatives of the four states will convene in-state workshops to create action plans for strengthening state cybersecurity; participate in regularly scheduled convenings with NGA staff on their progress and plans; and build relationships with and learn from peers in other states facing similar challenges. The Washington focus is state-local government partnerships in cybersecurity and Zack Hudgins is key to this initiative.
News items that caught OPDP's attention this month include:
- The impact of the pandemic on our privacy.
- Privacy legislation is catching on. (Bloomberlaw.com)
- PBS News Hour on Coded Bias.
- Representative DelBene introduced Internet of Things Legislation.
See you next month with more updates from our office!
Katy Ruckle
State Chief Privacy Officer