North Carolina State Law Requirements for Sending Confidential Data
- North Carolina has a mail system and plan for securing confidential data.north carolina outline image by Kim Jones from Fotolia.com
According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, over 500 million reported breaches of security regarding the transmission and storage of confidential data have taken place since 2005. Although it has no specific statute concerning the sending of confidential data, the state of North Carolina has passed two general statutes that include details regarding the handling of confidential information. Information vulnerable to identity theft includes social security numbers, bank account numbers, legal judgments, medical papers, property records, loan applications, state school enrollment and court proceedings. North Carolina state laws work to keep such data safe. General Statute 121, the North Carolina Archives and History Act, and General Statute 132, Public Records Law, together set forth the basic guidelines and requirements for data handling in the state of North Carolina. Although they focus on e-mail and other technological applications, they also include requirements set forth for the transmission of hard print confidential data. - All North Carolina state agencies must set guidelines for the handling of confidential data. Each agency has its own guidelines, but all of these guidelines include warnings about the transmissions of data. Agencies need guidelines in place addressing the encryption of data sent, restricting the use of data to be sent using the Internet and specifically e-mail, securing storage of confidential data, preventing unauthorized access to data, limiting staff access, following security guidelines for laptops and other portable informational devices, guarding physical access to paper and microfilm files, password protecting computers and file systems, and removing nonessential data and personally identifiable information from communications.
- In an effort to provide security and service to the state, the Office of Information Technology Services developed The North Carolina Mail System, better known as NcMail. It acts to provide better security and consumer services to the entire state. The Office of Information Technology recognizes e-mail and other electronic methods as possible unsecured means of communication and continually works to provide the best encryption software to protect confidential data. Additionally, the state "monitors network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage." Warnings indicate that any illegal use of a site is subject to prosecution.
Office of Information Technology Services
PO Box 17209
Raleigh, NC 27619-7209
919-754-6000 or 1-800-722-3946
www.its.state.nc.us - Not only do North Carolina's individual state agencies have manuals of instruction regarding the handling of information collected and sent by the agency, but they also maintain online tutorials for state employees on how to protect confidential data. As systems grow more complex, additional training is added as needed.
- According to the penalty sections of North Carolina's Statute 121 and Statute 132, anyone who violates any rules or regulations established regarding archived information may be guilty of a Class 1 to Class 3 misdemeanor depending on the information and agency violated. This includes the removal, altering, defamation, mutilation or destruction of a public record. The maximum misdemeanor penalty for violating confidential information in North Carolina is a $1,000 fine and prison time as set forth by the discretion of the court.
