As cities collect increasingly larger amounts of data, privacy and security around that data has become a top concern among public officials — particularly in light of high-profile data breaches or cybersecurity failures in both the public and private sectors.
Negrón will work across numerous city agencies to develop and promote new security protocols related to how resident information is stored, shared and collected, whether it's related to agencies that provide health-care services, aid for the homeless or other services.
“As the exchange of information between governments and the public becomes more open and transparent, it is important that the city can guarantee privacy protections regarding personal information,” Councilman Peter Koo said in a press release.
Negrón has spent nearly 40 years in public service, working within government and the nonprofit space. She has served as general counsel and chief privacy officer for the mayor’s Office of Operations, and created NYC’s Citywide Data Integration legal framework, which established procedures for sharing secure data across agencies.
Negrón has also served as executive agency counsel for Health and Human Services to coordinate interagency case management.
“Thank you to the Mayor for giving me the opportunity to lead the City’s efforts to protect New Yorkers’ private information and to continue to promote equity through data sharing,” Negrón said in the release.
In her new role, Negrón will report to Emily W. Newman, acting director of the Mayor’s Office of Operations. It’s not yet clear exactly how large the new privacy team will grow to be.
Cybersecurity and privacy concerns will continue to resonate among cities, as they have become targets for hacking and other tampering such as the recent data breach in Atlanta.
