{"id":338,"date":"2025-12-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/jennifer-gutierrez\/?p=338"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:36:39","slug":"voluntary-compliance-is-not-privacy-gutierrez-and-williams-warn-city-data-system-lacks-real-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/jennifer-gutierrez\/2025\/12\/08\/voluntary-compliance-is-not-privacy-gutierrez-and-williams-warn-city-data-system-lacks-real-enforcement\/","title":{"rendered":"VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE IS NOT PRIVACY: GUTI\u00c9RREZ AND WILLIAMS WARN CITY DATA SYSTEM LACKS REAL ENFORCEMENT"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York New York (December 8 2025) –<\/strong>\u00a0Today, Council Member Jennifer Guti\u00e9rrez, Chair of the Committee on Technology, and Council Member Dr. Nantasha Williams, Chair of the Committee on Civil and Human Rights, convened a joint oversight hearing on the City\u2019s data privacy framework:\u00a0Oversight \u2013 Privacy Protection in the Digital Age: Balancing Technological Advancements with Privacy Protections.<\/em><\/p>\n

The hearing examined whether New York City\u2019s growing use of digital systems \u2014 from benefits enrollment to enforcement databases \u2014 is matched by safeguards that are mandatory, consistent, and enforceable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City has built an expansive digital government, and with that comes an enormous responsibility,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>said Council Member Jennifer Guti\u00e9rrez.<\/strong>\u201cWe are collecting more data than ever before. The question is whether our privacy protections have kept pace \u2014 and today\u2019s testimony makes clear that too much of our system still depends on voluntary compliance and adhoc oversight rather than enforceable standards.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cData privacy is civil rights policy,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>said Council Member Dr. Nantasha Williams.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWhen personal information is mishandled or exposed, the people who pay the highest price are people of color, immigrants, survivors, tenants, workers, and young people. When government expands surveillance without equally strong restrictions, accountability, and limits, it concentrates power in dangerous ways. A rights-based system requires enforceable protections, not optional safeguards.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Council Members commended the Chief Privacy Office for producing a significant volume of guidance, toolkits, trainings, and public-facing materials, reflecting deep institutional knowledge and commitment. However, they raised serious concerns about the structural limits of the City\u2019s privacy enforcement regime. <\/p>\n

Since the privacy function moved under the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation, the Council has heard persistent concerns that the office lacks the same breadth of authority across agencies, that privacy practices vary widely between agencies, and ongoing concerns about the expansion of surveillance and lack of data minimization.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A central issue raised during the hearing was the role of Agency Privacy Officers (APOs). By law, APOs are the individuals empowered to decide what identifying information can be collected, shared, or disclosed within each agency. Despite the magnitude of that authority:<\/p>\n