Data Use & Privacy

Data Ethics and Privacy

Privacy has always been crucial to academic freedom and the wellbeing of our community. More recently, the pandemic has greatly sharpened the need for thoughtful and ethical consideration of data about, or affecting, members of our community. At the same time, the need to protect data from unauthorized access, a goal shared with information security, continues to accelerate in an era where cyberattacks are routine. And finally, the University must comply with a rapidly evolving landscape of privacy legislation and maintain appropriate transparency as a public institution.

The campus chief privacy officer (CPO), first designated in 2012 to reflect the growing importance of privacy among the constellation of institutional obligations and values, serves as a resource and contact point for campus privacy matters. The CPO  offers privacy guidance to the campus community in support of academic freedom and to strengthen operational effectiveness, driving transparency and ethical behavior around the use of data, and serving as a fair and authoritative voice in facilitating conversations around the balancing of opportunity and risk in the use of campus data assets relating to people.

The CPO provides ad hoc consultation; reviews of purchasing agreements, data use / data sharing agreements for research, and other contractual documents; and interpretation and guidance on UCLA Policy 410, Nonconsensual Access to Electronic Communications Records.

For more information, please contact Kent Wada.