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Supreme Judicial Court Issues Order Regarding
Protection
of Personal Information
The
Supreme Judicial Court has issued an Order regarding
safeguarding certain nonpublic personal information collected
and maintained in the Judicial Branch. The Order ,
issued under G.L.c. 93H, governs the security and confidentiality
of personal information as defined in that statute. The
personal information covered by the Order does not include
publicly available information.
The
Order requires the Trial Court, the Appellate Courts
and court affiliates to develop, implement and maintain
written information security programs applicable to records
containing personal information. The security programs
are to ensure that courts collect the minimum personal
information needed to accomplish the purpose for which
the information is collected; securely protect the information
from unauthorized access and disclosure; provide access
to the information only as necessary; and destroy the
information when it is no longer needed. The security
programs will require notification to the appropriate
Chief Justice of any breach of security of personal information.
Additionally,
the Order requires courts to review the type of personal
information collected with the goal of identifying any
that need not be collected or maintained. Contractors
will be required to comply with the provisions of all
information security programs that apply to the work
they will be performing.
The
Order, which can be found on the Court's website at www.mass.gov/sjc,
requires that the security programs be in place by September
1, 2010.
See
a copy of the Order
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