Government monitoring government on the move

OLYMPIA — State agencies maintain internal databases which may contain personal or confidential information on employees, clients, constituents, maybe even you.

And, though Washington’s Department of Information Services (DIS) provides coordinated planning, implementing and managing of state information services, they do not have a policy or procedures in place for monitoring and regulating the systems once they are up and running, or knowing the contents of the databases.

The Senate on Friday unanimously voted in favor of legislation sponsored by Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, created to change that. Senate Bill 5869 calls for the Department of Information Services to create and maintain an inventory of databases maintained by state agencies that contain “personally identifiable information.”

The legislation also stipulates the type of information that is required to be collected and maintained in the registry, including information on the system the agency uses, how data is collected, what records are stored and for how long, who is authorized to collect information, and most importantly, what kind of information is being collected.

“This bill clarifies the definition of personally identifiable information, and makes DIS accountable for working with each agency to take inventory of the information being collected and for what purpose,” said Kline.

The computer security personnel at the Department of Information Services have reviewed and are in support the bill.

SB 5869 passed the Senate on a 40 to 0 vote and now moves to the House for consideration.

Return to Sen. Kline's home page