1. NEW JERSEY PRIVACY STUDY COMMISSION
By: Catherine Starghill, Esq.
Privacy Study Commission, Staff

2. Creation of the Commission
The Privacy Study Commission was created under the Open Public Records Act (N.J.S. 47:1A-1 et seq.).
As the GRC knows, the Open Public Records Act defines the state’s policy that government records, with certain exceptions, should be readily accessible to the public for inspection, examination, and copying.
While limitations on the public’s right of access should be decided in the public’s favor, public agencies are required to keep a citizen’s personal information from public access when that access would violate the citizen’s reasonable expectation of privacy.
GRC issues …

3. The Open Public Records Act
The Open Public Records Act (OPRA) defines the state’s policy that government records, with certain exceptions, should be readily accessible to the public for inspection, examination, and copying.
While limitations on the public’s right of access should be decided in the public’s favor, public agencies are required to keep a citizen’s personal information from public access when that access would violate the citizen’s reasonable expectation of privacy.

4. Creation of the Commission
The Commission was established as a temporary body of 13 members – 9 appointed by the Governor and 4 appointed by the Legislature.

5. Commission Members Appointments coordinated to provide a balance
Advocates for citizen privacy interests
Advocates for increased access to government records

6. Commission Members Larry Litwin, Chairman
Professor of Public Relations & Advertising at Rowan University
Thomas Cafferty
General Counsel of the NJ Press Association
George Cevasco
Municipal Clerk for the Township of Brick
Rosemary Karcher-Reavey
Former Superior Court Judge in Middlesex County

7. Commission Members Jack McEntee
Detective with the Newark Police Department
Richard DeAngelis, Jr.
Attorney specializing in legislative and regulatory affairs
Pamela McCauley
Director of the Office of Victim-Witness Advocacy in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office
Grayson Barber
Attorney specializing in privacy rights advocacy

8. Commission Members Karen Sutcliffe
Attorney specializing in municipal law
John Hutchison
Research Director of the Senate Republican Office
H. Lawrence Wilson, Jr.
Retired Sergeant of Investigators in the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office

9. Commission Members Edithe A. Fulton
President of the NJ Education Association
William Kearns
General Counsel of the NJ League of Municipalities

10. Purpose of the Commission
Legislatively mandated to study the privacy issues raised by the collection, processing, use and dissemination of information by public agencies
Balance
Need for openness in government
Concerns for personal privacy and security

11. Purpose of the Commission
Privacy questions:
What are the privacy issues raised by the way government agencies collect, process, use and disseminate information?
How is openness in government affected by privacy issues?
How should we deal with these issues to safeguard the privacy rights of individuals?
The core of the issue is this: In this day and age when much of our government’s records are in databases and are internet accessible, the personal information contained in these records are more readily accessible for both good and bad use. So when you apply for a dog license or a driver’s license, your name, home address, home telephone number, identifying details such as height, weight, eye and hair color, maybe even social security number is potentially available for more people and entities to view and USE than ever before.
OPRA requires the Commission to look at these hard issues and develop the state’s strategy for dealing with them. That strategy may include additional legislation like California’s Information Practices Act which outlines in detail what state and local governments may and may not do with the personal information of its citizens (including obtaining citizens’ permission before disseminating their personal information to third parties for uses other than that intended by the agency). Or, it may be simply amending the Open Public Records Act to enhance the exemptions from open access.
Whatever strategy the Commission devises – the process will be done looking at both sides of the issue based on the balanced composition of its membership.

12. Commission Structure
The Commission established the following subcommittees:
Public Interest
Data Practices in New Jersey
Data Practices in Other Jurisdictions
Commercial Use
Technology
GOALS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES:
TECHNOLOGY
Examine how technology facilitates the collection of data, how data can be manipulated within government, how data is used when made available to the public, and the effect on government data when it is combined with data from other sources (=data mining).
PRACTICES OUTSIDE OF NJ
Learn the strategies employed by other governments to safeguard the privacy rights of its citizens. Benchmarking other states with best practices in privacy protection – CA, CN, HI, FL, and IL. As well as the US Federal government and the European Union.
COMMERCIAL USE
Identify and consider the commercial uses of government information, both positive and negative. (Positive Users – credit ratings agencies and employers. Negative Users – identify thieves).
NJ PRACTICES
Develop an understanding of the types of personal data collected by NJ public agencies, consider the methods used to collect data, assess the data’s current and potential use, and contemplate the views of public administrators on the data’s management.
PUBLIC INTEREST
Consider the views of the public as individuals and groups representing various interests on the issue of how and where to strike a balance between openness and privacy. Host public hearings throughout the State.

13. Subcommittees Public Interest
Consider the views of the public as individuals and groups representing various interests on the issue of how and where to strike a balance between openness and privacy
Host public hearings throughout the State
GOALS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES:
TECHNOLOGY
Examine how technology facilitates the collection of data, how data can be manipulated within government, how data is used when made available to the public, and the effect on government data when it is combined with data from other sources (=data mining).
PRACTICES OUTSIDE OF NJ
Learn the strategies employed by other governments to safeguard the privacy rights of its citizens. Benchmarking other states with best practices in privacy protection – CA, CN, HI, FL, and IL. As well as the US Federal government and the European Union.
COMMERCIAL USE
Identify and consider the commercial uses of government information, both positive and negative. (Positive Users – credit ratings agencies and employers. Negative Users – identify thieves).
NJ PRACTICES
Develop an understanding of the types of personal data collected by NJ public agencies, consider the methods used to collect data, assess the data’s current and potential use, and contemplate the views of public administrators on the data’s management.
PUBLIC INTEREST
Consider the views of the public as individuals and groups representing various interests on the issue of how and where to strike a balance between openness and privacy. Host public hearings throughout the State.

14. Subcommittees Data Practices in New Jersey
Develop an understanding of the types of personal data collected by public agencies in New Jersey
Consider the methods used to collect data
Assess the data’s current and potential use
Contemplate the views of public administrators on the data’s management
GOALS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES:
TECHNOLOGY
Examine how technology facilitates the collection of data, how data can be manipulated within government, how data is used when made available to the public, and the effect on government data when it is combined with data from other sources (=data mining).
PRACTICES OUTSIDE OF NJ
Learn the strategies employed by other governments to safeguard the privacy rights of its citizens. Benchmarking other states with best practices in privacy protection – CA, CN, HI, FL, and IL. As well as the US Federal government and the European Union.
COMMERCIAL USE
Identify and consider the commercial uses of government information, both positive and negative. (Positive Users – credit ratings agencies and employers. Negative Users – identify thieves).
NJ PRACTICES
Develop an understanding of the types of personal data collected by NJ public agencies, consider the methods used to collect data, assess the data’s current and potential use, and contemplate the views of public administrators on the data’s management.
PUBLIC INTEREST
Consider the views of the public as individuals and groups representing various interests on the issue of how and where to strike a balance between openness and privacy. Host public hearings throughout the State.

15. Subcommittees Data Practices in Other Jurisdictions
Learn the strategies employed by other governments to safeguard the privacy rights of its citizens
Benchmark other states with best practices in privacy protection – CA, CN, HI, FL, and IL
Benchmark the U.S. and European Union
GOALS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES:
TECHNOLOGY
Examine how technology facilitates the collection of data, how data can be manipulated within government, how data is used when made available to the public, and the effect on government data when it is combined with data from other sources (=data mining).
PRACTICES OUTSIDE OF NJ
Learn the strategies employed by other governments to safeguard the privacy rights of its citizens. Benchmarking other states with best practices in privacy protection – CA, CN, HI, FL, and IL. As well as the US Federal government and the European Union.
COMMERCIAL USE
Identify and consider the commercial uses of government information, both positive and negative. (Positive Users – credit ratings agencies and employers. Negative Users – identify thieves).
NJ PRACTICES
Develop an understanding of the types of personal data collected by NJ public agencies, consider the methods used to collect data, assess the data’s current and potential use, and contemplate the views of public administrators on the data’s management.
PUBLIC INTEREST
Consider the views of the public as individuals and groups representing various interests on the issue of how and where to strike a balance between openness and privacy. Host public hearings throughout the State.

16. Subcommittees Commercial Use
Identify and consider the commercial uses of government information, both positive and negative
(Positive Users – credit ratings agencies and employers)
(Negative Users – identify thieves)
GOALS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES:
TECHNOLOGY
Examine how technology facilitates the collection of data, how data can be manipulated within government, how data is used when made available to the public, and the effect on government data when it is combined with data from other sources (=data mining).
PRACTICES OUTSIDE OF NJ
Learn the strategies employed by other governments to safeguard the privacy rights of its citizens. Benchmarking other states with best practices in privacy protection – CA, CN, HI, FL, and IL. As well as the US Federal government and the European Union.
COMMERCIAL USE
Identify and consider the commercial uses of government information, both positive and negative. (Positive Users – credit ratings agencies and employers. Negative Users – identify thieves).
NJ PRACTICES
Develop an understanding of the types of personal data collected by NJ public agencies, consider the methods used to collect data, assess the data’s current and potential use, and contemplate the views of public administrators on the data’s management.
PUBLIC INTEREST
Consider the views of the public as individuals and groups representing various interests on the issue of how and where to strike a balance between openness and privacy. Host public hearings throughout the State.

17. Subcommittees Technology
Examine how technology facilitates the collection of data
Examine how data can be manipulated within government
Examine how data is used when made available to the public
Examine the effect on government data when it is combined with data from other sources (data mining)
GOALS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES:
TECHNOLOGY
Examine how technology facilitates the collection of data, how data can be manipulated within government, how data is used when made available to the public, and the effect on government data when it is combined with data from other sources (=data mining).
PRACTICES OUTSIDE OF NJ
Learn the strategies employed by other governments to safeguard the privacy rights of its citizens. Benchmarking other states with best practices in privacy protection – CA, CN, HI, FL, and IL. As well as the US Federal government and the European Union.
COMMERCIAL USE
Identify and consider the commercial uses of government information, both positive and negative. (Positive Users – credit ratings agencies and employers. Negative Users – identify thieves).
NJ PRACTICES
Develop an understanding of the types of personal data collected by NJ public agencies, consider the methods used to collect data, assess the data’s current and potential use, and contemplate the views of public administrators on the data’s management.
PUBLIC INTEREST
Consider the views of the public as individuals and groups representing various interests on the issue of how and where to strike a balance between openness and privacy. Host public hearings throughout the State.

18. Additional Mandate
“… study the issue of whether and to what extent the home address and home telephone number of citizens should be made publicly available by public agencies …”
Separate subcommittee to address special directive
This mandate is to be addressed first. The Governor (in his EO 26) is especially concerned with the vulnerability of New Jersey citizens in regards to the open access to their otherwise published or unpublished home address and home telephone numbers. Therefore, the Commission will develop a specific strategy for addressing this issue first.

19. Result of Research - Recommend specific measures
Better safeguard privacy rights of NJ citizens
Again, the optimal phrase here is “safeguarding privacy rights” while balancing the need for open access to public records.

20. Commission Meetings: All meetings are held at 10:30 AM –
Department of Community Affairs–Conference Room 129
101 S. Broad Street (corner of Broad & Front Streets)
Trenton, New Jersey 08625
2003 Meeting Dates –
July 25, October 17, 2003
September 19, November 14, 2003
December 19, 2003

21. Public Hearings June 10, 2003 – 4:00 PM
Mercer County Community College (West Windsor)
Room: CM-110 Communications Building
June 16, 2003 – 4:00 PM
Rowan University (Glassboro)
Student Center - Ballroom
June 17, 2003 – 4:00 PM
Montclair State College (Upper Montclair)

22. Contact Information:
The Privacy Study Commission may be contacted:
and at