Chapter 4123-10 | Accessing Confidential Personal Information

Rule 4123-10-01 | Definitions.

• Effective: October 13, 2016
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

For the purposes of administrative rules promulgated in accordance with section 1347.15 of the Revised Code, the following definitions apply:

(A) "Access" as a noun means an opportunity to copy, view, or otherwise perceive whereas "access" as a verb means to copy, view, or otherwise perceive.

(B) "Acquisition of a new computer system" means the purchase of a "computer system," as defined in this rule, that is not a computer system currently in place nor one for which the acquisition process has been initiated as of the effective date of the bureau rule addressing requirements in section 1347.15 of the Revised Code.

(C) "Computer system" means a "system," as defined by section 1347.01 of the Revised Code, that stores, maintains, or retrieves personal information using electronic data processing equipment.

(D) "Confidential personal information" (CPI) has the meaning as defined by division (A)(1) of section 1347.15 of the Revised Code and identified by rules promulgated by the bureau in accordance with division (B)(3) of section 1347.15 of the Revised Code that reference the federal or state statutes or administrative rules that make personal information maintained by the bureau confidential.

(E) "Employee of the bureau" means each employee of the bureau regardless of whether he/she holds an elected or appointed office or position within the bureau. "Employee of the bureau" is limited to the bureau.

(F) "Incidental contact" means contact with the information that is secondary or tangential to the primary purpose of the activity that resulted in the contact.

(G) "Individual" means natural person or the natural person's authorized representative, legal counsel, legal custodian, or legal guardian.

(H) "Information owner" means the individual appointed in accordance with division (A) of section 1347.05 of the Revised Code to be directly responsible for a system.

(I) "Person" means natural person.

(J) "Personal information" has the same meaning as defined in division (E) of section 1347.01 of the Revised Code.

(K) "Personal information system" means a "system" that "maintains" "personal information" as those terms are defined in section 1347.01 of the Revised Code. "System" includes manual and computer systems.

(L) "Research" means a methodical investigation into a subject.

(M) "Routine" means commonplace, regular, habitual, or ordinary.

(N) "Routine information that is maintained for the purpose of internal office administration, the use of which would not adversely affect a person" as that phrase is used in division (F) of section 1347.01 of the Revised Code means personal information relating to the bureau's employees that is maintained by the bureau for administrative and human resource purposes.

(O) "System" has the same meaning as defined by division (F) of section 1347.01 of the Revised Code.

(P) "Upgrade" means a substantial redesign of an existing system for the purpose of providing a substantial amount of new application functionality, or application modifications that would involve substantial administrative or fiscal resources to implement, but would not include maintenance, minor updates and patches, or modifications that entail a limited addition of functionality due to changes in business or legal requirements.

Last updated May 31, 2023 at 11:31 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 1347.15, 4121.12, 4121.121
Amplifies: 1347.01, 1347.05
Five Year Review Date: 10/1/2026
Prior Effective Dates: 6/30/2011

Rule 4123-10-02 | Procedures for accessing confidential personal information.

• Effective: June 30, 2011
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

For personal information systems, whether manual or computer systems, that contain confidential personal information, the bureau shall do the following:

(A) Criteria for accessing confidential personal information. Personal information systems of the bureau are managed on a "need-to-know" basis whereby the information owner determines the level of access required for an employee of the bureau to fulfill his/her job duties. The determination of access to confidential personal information shall be approved by the employee's supervisor and the information owner prior to providing the employee with access to confidential personal information within a personal information system. The bureau shall establish procedures for determining a revision to an employee's access to confidential personal information upon a change to that employee's job duties including, but not limited to, transfer or termination. Whenever an employee's job duties no longer require access to confidential personal information in a personal information system, the employee's access to confidential personal information shall be removed.

(B) Individual's request for a list of confidential personal information. Upon the signed written request of any individual for a list of confidential personal information about the individual maintained by the bureau, the bureau shall do all of the following:

(1) Verify the identity of the individual by a method that provides safeguards commensurate with the risk associated with the confidential personal information;

(2) Provide to the individual the list of confidential personal information that does not relate to an investigation about the individual or is otherwise not excluded from the scope of Chapter 1347. of the Revised Code; and

(3) If all information relates to an investigation about that individual, inform the individual that the bureau has no confidential personal information about the individual that is responsive to the individual's request.

(C) Notice of invalid access.

(1) Upon discovery or notification that confidential personal information of a person has been accessed by an employee for an invalid reason, the bureau shall notify the person whose information was invalidly accessed as soon as practical and to the extent known at the time. However, the bureau shall delay notification for a period of time necessary to ensure that the notification would not delay or impede an investigation or jeopardize homeland or national security. Additionally, the bureau may delay the notification consistent with any measures necessary to determine the scope of the invalid access, including which individuals' confidential personal information invalidly was accessed, and to restore the reasonable integrity of the system.

"Investigation" as used in this paragraph means the investigation of the circumstances and involvement of an employee surrounding the invalid access of the confidential personal information. Once the bureau determines that notification would not delay or impede an investigation, the bureau shall disclose the access to confidential personal information made for an invalid reason to the person.

(2) Notification provided by the bureau shall inform the person of the type of confidential personal information accessed and the date(s) of the invalid access.

(3) Notification may be made by any method reasonably designed to accurately inform the person of the invalid access, including written, electronic, or telephone notice.

(D) Appointment of a data privacy point of contact. The administrator of the bureau shall designate an employee of the bureau to serve as the data privacy point of contact. The data privacy point of contact shall work with the chief privacy officer within the office of information technology to assist the bureau with both the implementation of privacy protections for the confidential personal information that the bureau maintains and compliance with section 1347.15 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted pursuant to the authority provided by that chapter.

(E) Completion of a privacy impact assessment. The agency director shall designate an employee of the bureau to serve as the data privacy point of contact who shall timely complete the privacy impact assessment form developed by the office of information technology.

Last updated May 31, 2023 at 11:31 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 1347.15, 4121.12, 4121.121
Amplifies: 1347.15
Five Year Review Date: 10/1/2026

Rule 4123-10-03 | Valid reasons for accessing confidential personal information.

• Effective: January 1, 2022
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

Pursuant to the requirements of division (B)(2) of section 1347.15 of the Revised Code, this rule contains a list of valid reasons, directly related to the bureau's exercise of its powers or duties, for which only employees of the bureau may access confidential personal information (CPI) regardless of whether the personal information system is a manual system or computer system:

(A) Performing the following functions constitute valid reasons for authorized employees of the bureau to access confidential personal information:

(1) Responding to a public records request;

(2) Responding to a request from an individual for the list of CPI the bureau maintains on that individual;

(3) Administering a constitutional provision or duty;

(4) Administering a statutory provision or duty;

(5) Administering an administrative rule provision or duty;

(6) Complying with any state or federal program requirements;

(7) Processing or payment of claims or otherwise administering a program with individual participants or beneficiaries;

(8) Auditing purposes;

(9) Licensure [or permit, eligibility, filing, etc.] processes;

(10) Investigation or law enforcement purposes;

(11) Administrative hearings;

(12) Litigation, complying with an order of the court, or subpoena;

(13) Human resource matters (e.g., hiring, promotion, demotion, discharge, salary/compensation issues, leave requests/issues, timekeeping approvals/issues);

(14) Complying with an executive order or policy;

(15) Complying with a bureau policy or a state administrative policy issued by the department of administrative services, the office of budget and management or other similar state agency; or

(16) Complying with a collective bargaining agreement provision.

(B) To the extent that the general processes described in paragraph (A) of this rule do not cover the following circumstances, for the purpose of carrying out specific duties of the bureau, authorized employees would also have valid reasons for accessing CPI in these following circumstances:

(1) Authorized bureau employees may review CPI of individuals who have applied for workers' compensation benefits as well as CPI regarding amenable employers.

(2) Authorized bureau employees may review CPI of bureau employees and contractors in furtherance of auditing, investigational and legal matters.

(3) Authorized bureau employees may review CPI regarding bureau employee information, investment data and other financial information.

(4) Authorized bureau employees in the IT division may review CPI in furtherance of their official IT duties as defined by their job description.

(5) Authorized bureau employees may review CPI of employers, including professional employer organizations, group sponsors, and third party administrators, to investigate the impacts of workers' compensation strategies, policies, and recommendations.

(6) Authorized bureau employees may review CPI of providers as part of the bureau certification process.

(7) Authorized bureau employees may review CPI of financial and other relevant information concerning MCOs as part of the bureau certification process

Last updated January 3, 2022 at 10:07 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 1347.15, 4121.12, 4121.121
Amplifies: 1347.15
Five Year Review Date: 10/1/2026
Prior Effective Dates: 6/30/2011

Rule 4123-10-04 | Confidentiality statutes.

• Effective: October 13, 2016
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

The following federal statutes or regulations or state statutes and administrative rules make personal information maintained by the bureau confidential and identify the confidential personal information within the scope of rules promulgated by the bureau in accordance with section 1347.15 of the Revised Code:

(A) Social security numbers, unless the individual was told that the number would be disclosed. See 5 U.S.C. 552a.

(B) Bureau of criminal investigation and information criminal records check results. See section 4776.04 of the Revised Code.

(C) Any information in respect of any claim. Division (A) of section 4123.88 of the Revised Code provides that no employee of the bureau "shall divulge any information in respect of any claim or appeal which is or may be filed with a district or staff hearing officer, the bureau, or commission to any person other than members of the commission or to the superior of the employee except upon authorization of the administrator of workers' compensation or a member of the commission or upon authorization of the claimant or employer."

(D) Addresses and telephone numbers cannot be divulged without authorization. See division (B) of section 4123.88 of the Revised Code.

(E) Employer and third party information, payroll report, and child support / public assistance information. See section 4123.27 of the Revised Code.

(1) Information submitted by the employer in the payroll report (payroll, premium and number of employees) and any other additional required information shall not be open to the public.

(2) No person in the employ of the bureau, except those who are authorized by the administrator of workers' compensation, shall divulge any information secured by the person while in the employ of the bureau in respect to the transactions, property, claim files, records, or papers of the bureau or in respect to the business or mechanical, chemical, or other industrial process of any company, firm, corporation, person, association, partnership, or public utility to any person other than the administrator or to the superior of such employee of the bureau.

(3) The bureau can share information with the Ohio department of job and family services or with the auditor of state but will otherwise protect confidentiality of child support or public assistance recipients.

(F) Peer review committee proceedings and records for the bureau's disability evaluators' panel and provider certification. All "proceedings and records within the scope of a peer review committee of a health care entity." See division (E)(2)(j) of section 2305.25 of the Revised Code and section 2305.252 of the Revised Code.

(G) Governmental records that are exempt from disclosure under the public records act. See section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(H) Investment information provided by a bureau approved investment manager. See division (B)(2) of section 4123.444 of the Revised Code.

Last updated May 31, 2023 at 11:31 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 1347.15, 4121.12, 4121.121
Amplifies: 149.43, 2305.25, 2305.252, 1347.15, 4123.88, 4123.27, 4123.444, 5 U.S.C. 552a.
Five Year Review Date: 10/1/2026
Prior Effective Dates: 6/30/2011

Rule 4123-10-05 | Restricting and logging access to confidential personal information in computerized personal information systems.

• Effective: June 30, 2011
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

For personal information systems that are computer systems and contain confidential personal information, the bureau shall do the following:

(A) Access restrictions. Access to confidential personal information that is kept electronically shall require a password or other authentication measure.

(B) Acquisition of a new computer system. When the bureau acquires a new computer system that stores, manages or contains confidential personal information, the bureau shall include a mechanism for recording specific access by employees of the bureau to confidential personal information in the system.

(C) Upgrading existing computer systems. When the bureau modifies an existing computer system that stores, manages or contains confidential personal information, the bureau shall make a determination whether the modification constitutes an upgrade. Any upgrades to a computer system shall include a mechanism for recording specific access by employees of the bureau to confidential personal information in the system.

(D) Logging requirements regarding confidential personal information in existing computer systems.

(1) Each employee of the bureau who accesses confidential personal information within computer systems shall maintain a log that records that access.

(2) Access to confidential information is not required to be entered into the log under the following circumstances:

(a) The employee of the bureau is accessing confidential personal information for official bureau purposes, including research, and the access is not specifically directed toward a specifically named individual or a group of specifically named individuals.

(b) The employee of the bureau is accessing confidential personal information for routine office procedures and the access is not specifically directed toward a specifically named individual or a group of specifically named individuals.

(c) The employee of the bureau comes into incidental contact with confidential personal information and the access of the information is not specifically directed toward a specifically named individual or a group of specifically named individuals.

(d) The employee of the bureau accesses confidential personal information about an individual based upon a request made under either of the following circumstances:

(i) The individual requests confidential personal information about himself/herself.

(ii) The individual makes a request that the bureau takes some action on that individual's behalf and accessing the confidential personal information is required in order to consider or process that request.

(3) For purposes of this paragraph, the bureau may choose the form or forms of logging, whether in electronic or paper formats.

(E) Log management. The agency shall issue a policy that specifies the following:

(1) Who shall maintain the log;

(2) What information shall be captured in the log;

(3) How the log is to be stored; and

(4) How long information kept in the log is to be retained.

Nothing in this rule limits the bureau from requiring logging in any circumstance that it deems necessary.

Last updated May 31, 2023 at 11:31 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 1347.15, 4121.12, 4121.121
Amplifies: 1347.15
Five Year Review Date: 10/1/2026