State Chief Information Officer and WaTech Director Jim Weaver has named Katy Ruckle as the state Chief Privacy Officer. She will start Jan. 1, 2020.
Katy will join WaTech's Strategy and Management Division, which is home to the Office of the Chief Information Officer. The state Chief Privacy Officer's duties include conducting an annual privacy review and providing privacy training for state agencies, as well as education and outreach on privacy principles and best practices.
"I am thrilled to have someone of Katy's caliber join our team," Weaver said. "She brings tremendous leadership, enthusiasm and commitment in the area of improving privacy practices across state government. Safeguarding individual privacy in a digital world is a critical issue for governments at all levels. Katy's thought leadership and expertise will make her an asset to the state's privacy efforts."
Katy currently serves as the Privacy Officer and Information Governance Administrator at the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) where she has been responsible for establishing privacy practices for five administrations including three hospitals covering 16,000 employees.
Katy developed and implemented the DSHS privacy program from its infancy overseeing public records, records management, discovery and HIPAA compliance, and leading 18 privacy coordinators across the agency. She also served as contracts counsel for three years working extensively on contract issues supporting privacy protections for sensitive information.
While in law school, Katy was a judicial clerk at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a law clerk at the Marion County District Attorney's Office in Salem, Oregon. Katy is also a certified mediator and has volunteered at the Pierce County Center for Dialog and Resolution since June 2005.