The secretary of state herein
establishes a rule for the protection of confidential personal information.
Secretary of state systems maintained in the regular course of business that
contain personal information that is confidential in nature will be accessed in
accordance with this rule established pursuant to division (B) of section
1347.15 of the Revised Code.
(A)
Definitions
As used in this
rule:
.
(1) "Access" as a noun means an instance of
copying, viewing, conveying, or otherwise perceiving, whereas "access" as a
verb means to copy, view, convey, transfer or otherwise perceive.
(2) "Acquisition of a new computer system"
means the purchase of a "computer system," as defined in this rule, that is not
a computer system currently in place
nor one for which the acquisition process has been
initiated as of the effective date of the agency rule addressing requirements
in section 1347.15 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Computer system" means a "system," as
defined by section
1347.01
of the Revised Code, that stores, maintains, processes or retrieves personal
information using electronic data processing equipment.
(4) "Confidential personal information" (CPI)
has the meaning as defined by division (A)(1) of section
1347.15
of the Revised Code and identified by rules
promulgated by the secretary of state in accordance with division (B)(3) of
section 1347.15 of the Revised Code that reference the federal or state
statutes or administrative rules that make personal information maintained by
the secretary of state confidential.
(5) "Employee of the secretary of state"
means each employee of the secretary of state regardless of whether he/she
holds an elected or appointed office or position within the state
agency
(6) "Incidental contact"
means contact with the information that is secondary or tangential to the
primary purpose of the activity that resulted in the contact.
(7) "Individual" means a natural person or
the natural person's authorized representative, legal counsel, legal custodian,
or legal guardian.
(8) "Information
owner" means the individual appointed in accordance with division (A) of
section
1347.05
of the Revised Code to be directly responsible for a system.
(9) "Person" means a natural
person.
(10) "Personal information"
has the same meaning as defined in division (E) of section
1347.01
of the Revised Code.
(11) "Personal
information system" means a "system" that "maintains" "personal information" as
those terms are defined in section
1347.01
of the Revised Code. "System" includes manual and computer systems.
(12) "Research" means a methodical
investigation into a subject.
(13)
"Routine" means commonplace, regular, habitual, or ordinary.
(14) "Routine information that is
maintained for the purpose of internal office administration, the use of which
would not adversely affect a person" as that phrase is used in division (F) of
section 1347.01 of the Revised Code means personal information relating to
employees and maintained by the secretary of state for internal administrative
and human resource purposes.
(15)(14) "System" has the
same meaning as defined by division (F) of section
1347.01
of the Revised Code.
(16)(15) "Upgrade" means a
substantial redesign of an existing computer system for the purpose of
providing a substantial amount of new application functionality, or application
modifications that would involve substantial administrative or fiscal resources
to implement, but would not include maintenance, minor updates and patches, or
modifications that entail a limited addition of functionality due to changes in
business or legal requirements.
(B)
Procedures for
accessing CPI.
For personal information systems,
whether manual or computer systems, that contain confidential personal
information, the secretary of state shall do the following:
(1)
Criteria for
accessing confidential personal information.
Personal information systems of the
secretary of state are managed on a "need-to-know" basis whereby
For each personal information system, the
information owner shall
determines
determine the level of access required for an employee
of the secretary of state to fulfill his/her
their job
duties, consistent with paragraph (C) of this
rule. The determination of access to
confidential personal information shall be approved by the employee's
supervisor and the information owner prior
Prior to providing the
an employee with
access to confidential personal information within a personal information
system, both the information owner and the employee's
supervisor shall grant approval. The secretary
of state
information owner shall
establish
revise
procedures for
determining a revision to an employee's access to confidential
personal information upon a change to that employee's job duties
including, but not limited to, transfer or
termination
if appropriate. Whenever an
employee's job duties no longer require access to confidential personal
information in a personal information system, the information owner shall remove the employee's access
to confidential personal information shall be
removed.
(2)
Individual's request for a list of confidential
personal information.
Upon the signed written request of any individual for a list of
confidential personal information about the individual maintained by the
agency, the agency shall do all of the following:
(a) Verify the identity of the individual by
a method that provides safeguards commensurate with the risk associated with
the confidential personal information;
(b) Provide to the individual the list of
confidential personal information that does not relate to an investigation
about the individual or is otherwise not excluded from the scope of Chapter
1347. of the Revised Code; and
(3)
Notice of
invalid access.
(a) Upon discovery or
notification that confidential personal information
of a person has been accessed by an employee for an
invalid reason, the secretary of state shall
determine
whether it is necessary to delay notification to either person whose
information was invalidly accessed for any of the following
reasons:
notify the person whose information
was invalidly accessed as soon as practical and to the extent known at the
time. However, the secretary of state shall delay notification for a period of
time necessary to ensure that the notification would not delay or impede an
investigation or jeopardize homeland or national security. Additionally, the
secretary of state may delay the notification consistent with any measures
necessary to determine the scope of the invalid access, including which
individuals' confidential personal information invalidly was accessed, and to
restore the reasonable integrity of the system. "Investigation" as used in this
paragraph means the investigation of the circumstances and involvement of an
employee surrounding the invalid access of the confidential personal
information. Once the secretary of state determines that notification would not
delay or impede an investigation, the secretary of state shall disclose the
access to confidential personal information made for an invalid reason to the
person.
(i)
To ensure that the notification would not delay or impede an
investigation or jeopardize homeland or national security. "Investigation" as
used in this paragraph means the investigation of the circumstances and
involvement of an employee surrounding the invalid access of the confidential
personal information.
(ii)
To take any measures necessary to determine the scope
of the invalid access, including which individuals' confidential information
invalidly was accessed, and to restore the reasonable integrity of the
system.
(b)
The secretary of state shall notify the person whose
information was invalidly accessed as soon as practical and to the extent known
at the time.
(b)(c)
Notification provided by the
The secretary of state shall inform the person of the
type of confidential personal information accessed and the
date(s)
date or
dates of the invalid access.
(c)(d) Notification may be
made by
using any method reasonably designed to
accurately inform the person of the invalid access, including written,
electronic, or telephone notice.
(4)
Appointment of
a data privacy point of contact.
The secretary of state director shall designate an employee of
the secretary of state to serve as the data privacy point of contact. The data
privacy point of contact shall work with the chief privacy officer within the
office of information technology to assist the secretary of state with both the
implementation of privacy protections for the confidential personal information
that the secretary of state maintains and compliance with section
1347.15
of the Revised Code and the rules adopted pursuant
to the authority provided by that chapter
thereunder.
(5)
Completion of
a privacy impact assessment. The secretary of state shall designate an employee
of the secretary of state to serve as the
The data privacy point of contact
who shall complete the privacy impact
assessment form developed by the office of information
technology.
(C)
Valid reasons for accessing confidential person
information. Performing any of the following functions
constitute
constitutes a valid
reason(s)
reason for
authorized employees of the secretary of state to access confidential personal
information:
(1) Responding to a public
records request;
(2) Responding to
a request from an individual for the list of
CPI
confidential personal
information the agency maintains on that individual;
(3) Administering a constitutional provision
or duty;
(4) Administering a
statutory provision or duty;
(5)
Administering an administrative rule provision or duty;
(6) Complying with any state or federal
program requirements;
(7)
Processing or payment of claims or otherwise administering a program with
individual participants or beneficiaries;
(8) Auditing purposes;
(9) Licensure [or permit, eligibility,
filing, etc.] processes
;
(10) Investigation or law enforcement
purposes;
(11) Administrative
hearings;
(12) Litigation,
complying with an order of the court, or subpoena;
(13) Human resource matters (e.g., hiring,
promotion, demotion, discharge, salary/ compensation issues, leave
requests/issues, time card approvals/issues);
(14) Complying with an executive order or
policy;
(15) Complying with an
agency policy or a state administrative policy issued by the department of
administrative services, the office of budget and management or other similar
state agency; or
(16) Complying
with a collective bargaining agreement provision.
(D)
Confidentiality statutes.
The following federal statutes or regulations or state statutes
and administrative rules make personal information maintained by the secretary
of state confidential and identify the confidential
personal information within the scope of rules promulgated by the secretary of
state in accordance with section 1347.15 of the Revised Code:
(1)
Social
security numbers:
The Privacy Act of 1974,
Pub. L. No. 93-579, 88 Stat.1896 (
5 U.S.C.
552a
).
, unless the individual was told that the number would be
disclosed.
(2)
The Driver's Privacy Protection Act,
18
U.S.C. 2721 et seq.
(2)(3)
"Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Information"
criminal records check results: section
Section
4776.04
of the Revised Code.
(3)(4)
Records exempt from disclosure under
the
The Ohio Public Records Act: Chapter
149
. of the Revised Code.
(5)
Section
1306.23
of the Revised Code.
(E)
Restricting
and logging access to confidential personal information in computerized
personal information systems. For personal information systems that are
computer systems and contain confidential personal information, the agency
shall do the following:
(1) Access
restrictions. Access to confidential personal information that is kept
electronically shall require a password or other authentication
measure.
(2)
Acquisition of a new computer system. When
the secretary of state acquires a new computer system that stores, manages or
contains confidential personal information, the secretary of state shall
include a mechanism for recording specific access by employees of the secretary
of state to confidential personal information in the system.
(3)
Upgrading
existing computer systems. When the secretary of state modifies an
existing computer system that stores, manages or contains confidential personal
information, the secretary of state shall make a determination whether the
modification constitutes an upgrade. Any upgrades to a computer system shall
include a mechanism for recording specific access by employees of the secretary
of state to confidential personal information in the system.
(4)
Logging
requirements regarding confidential personal information in existing computer
systems.
(a) The secretary of state shall
require employees of the secretary of state who access confidential personal
information within computer systems to maintain a log that records that
access.
(b)(a)
Access to
The
secretary of state shall require employees of the secretary of state who
access confidential
personal information
within existing computer systems to
is not required to be entered into the
maintain a log
that
records that access except under the following circumstances:
(i) The employee of the secretary of state is
accessing confidential personal information for official secretary of
state-related purposes, including research, and the access is not specifically
directed toward a specifically named individual or a group of specifically
named individuals.
(ii) The
employee of the secretary of state is accessing confidential personal
information for routine office procedures and the access is not specifically
directed toward a specifically named individual or a group of specifically
named individuals.
(iii) The
employee of the secretary of state comes into incidental contact with
confidential personal information and the access of the information is not
specifically directed toward a specifically named individual or a group of
specifically named individuals.
(iv) The employee of the secretary of state
accesses confidential personal information about an individual based upon a
request made under either of the following circumstances:
(a) The individual requests confidential
personal information about
himself/herself
theirself.
(b) The individual makes a request that the
secretary of state takes some action on that individual's behalf and accessing
the confidential personal information is required in order to consider or
process that request.
(c) For
purposes of this paragraph, the secretary of state may choose the form or forms
of logging, whether in electronic or paper formats.
(F)
Log management.
(1) The secretary of state shall issue a
policy that specifies the following:
(a) Who
shall maintain the log;
(b) What
information shall be captured in the log;
(c) How the log is to be stored;
and
(d) How long information kept
in the log is to be retained.
(2) Nothing in this rule limits the agency
from requiring logging in any circumstance that it deems
necessary.
