OMB to agencies: Review personal data protections

[lyger <lyger () attrition org>]

Courtesy InfoSec News and WK:

http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/40842-1.html

By Mary Mosquera
GCN Staff
05/22/06

The Office of Management and Budget has directed agencies' senior
privacy officials to review and correct any policies and processes to
ensure that they protect against misuse of or unauthorized access to
personally identifiable information.

The memo, dated today from OMB acting director Clay Johnson, comes on
the same day the Veterans Affairs Department announced that electronic
data containing the personal information of up to 26.5 million
veterans was stolen from the home of a VA employee.

"Because federal agencies maintain significant amounts of information
concerning individuals, we have a special duty to protect that
information from loss and misuse," he said in the memo.

The memo re-emphasizes agencies' responsibility to safeguard sensitive
personally identifiable information and to train employees on their
responsibilities, especially related to provisions of the Privacy Act.

[...]

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