WASHINGTON—To help governors address the balance of justice agencies’ need for information with individuals’ privacy rights, the National Governors Association (NGA) today released an issue brief highlighting actions states have taken to create and implement privacy policies within their justice information sharing systems.
A System of Trust: Privacy Policies for Justice Information Sharing builds upon the lessons learned from a recent NGA meeting held in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. Participating states created privacy policies designed to govern their integrated justice information systems, provide accountability for potential misuse of the system and protect the privacy rights of individuals.
In addition to including critical information gleaned from the meeting, the brief identifies common challenges that states face when developing privacy policies for justice information systems and provides a roadmap for states to implement privacy policies based on the experiences of other states.
“The ability to share information is vital to criminal justice decision makers’ privacy policies that govern justice information systems help protect personal information,” said Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie. “By following these policy development recommendations, states can improve justice outcomes while ensuring personal privacy rights have not been violated.”
The brief presents governors the following policy options to ensure justice agencies establish adequate privacy protections and enforce limitations on how information is accessed and used at all points within the justice system:
- Empower a team of key stakeholders to coordinate all aspects of the development and implementation of a privacy policy for the justice information sharing system;
- Conduct a legal analysis of extant privacy laws and regulations;
- Assess the privacy risks and vulnerabilities of the various components of the justice information sharing system via a privacy impact assessment;
- Write and review the privacy policy; and
- Establish auditing, security and enforcement mechanisms in the justice information sharing system to ensure system accountability.
To learn more, please visit http://www.nga.org/cms/center/hsps.
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