November 2020 Privacy Points

November greetings!

The Office of Privacy Data Protection (OPDP) is releasing its Washington State Agency Privacy Principles today.

I want to thank everyone who helped OPDP put the document together. The feedback we received from all our stakeholders was invaluable.

The intent of the publication is to guide agency practices to maintain public trust. Many services provided by state government require the collection of personal information. Public agencies have an obligation to handle personal information about Washington residents responsibly, fairly and transparently.

While the foundation for modern privacy principles was formed decades ago, there is not a specific version uniformly recognized as authoritative. As such, OPDP has settled on the following principles:

  • Lawful, fair, and responsible use.
  • Data minimization.
  • Purpose limitation.
  • Transparency & accountability.
  • Due diligence.
  • Individual participation.
  • Security.

OPDP is also busy finalizing our legislative and privacy assessment reports. Both documents will be published next month.

Presentations

Please join us this Thursday, Nov. 19, from 10 -11 a.m., for our monthly webinar. This month's topic is the Keep Washington Working Act. We will discuss how to handle immigration status data appropriately.

The law, passed by the Washington State Legislature in 2019, establishes "a statewide policy supporting Washington State's economy and immigrants' role in the workplace."

We are honored to welcome these guest presenters:

  • Nick Brown, Special Assistant Attorney General.
  • Alejandro Sanchez, Special Assistant to the Governor.
  • Yasmin Trudeau, Legislative Director for the state Attorney General's Office.

Please email privacy@ocio.wa.gov for a webinar invitation.

In other privacy news:

Stay safe!

Katy Ruckle

State Chief Privacy Officer