Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Public Council Teleconference: Application Rationalization — Hidden Costs and Smart Decisions
November 17 at 11:00 am US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Honorio Padrón, of The Hackett Group, who will share the drivers for companies to tackle application rationalization and the results of research that define the hidden cost of complexity. Additionally, we will discuss key decision milestones—to start or not, holding the course steady and fulfilling expectations.
Virtual Desktop Cost-Benefit Analysis — Michael Jacobs, Catlin Group
The analysis contained in this presentation measures the cost of everything from the machines and licenses to the infrastructure for virtual vs. traditional desktop environments.
Honor your best senior team members - Apply for the CIO Ones to Watch Award
Get well-earned public recognition for your top up-and-coming team members, your IT organization and your enterprise. Award winners will be announced, publicized and feted in May 2010, great timing to help attract new IT recruits to your company.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »June 01, 2004 — CIO —
In September 2002, the Department of Defense asked JetBlue Airways to hand over more than 5 million passenger records. The airline, known for its discount fares and leather seats, promptly complied with the request, releasing names, telephone numbers and travel itineraries to a DoD contractor.
JetBlue’s CIO at that time, Jeff Cohen, didn’t hear about the request; the DoD went directly to the company’s marketing department, bypassing IT altogether. Cohen discovered months later that the airline had released passenger information in violation of its own privacy policy.
JetBlue now faces class-action lawsuits filed by outraged customers and potentially millions of dollars in settlements or awards. Cohen has since left the airline, but in retrospect he says that he and other top executives should have been involved in the decision to turn over such sensitive passenger data. "Everybody in a leadership position at JetBlue who had anything to do with data should have known about that request," Cohen says.
JetBlue’s saga is a cautionary tale for corporate America, which is increasingly using powerful data mining software and surveillance technologies to gather personal data and track movements of customers on and offline. One of the lessons learned is that CIOs would be wise to play a more central role in the shaping and enforcing of data privacy policies. As the guardians of data, CIOs are uniquely positioned to understand how customers and privacy advocates could view data collection and mining as intrusive. CIOs may not always make the final call on who gets access to customer data?top management will often issue such decisions?but they must do more than oversee data collection; they must reposition themselves as the champions and advocates for privacy. If they don’t, what’s to stop their company from becoming the next JetBlue?
CIOs can become privacy champions by initiating a formal process for data access and educating themselves about new regulations and technologies that can help protect data privacy. They can insist that their companies tell consumers how their data is used and how the latest technologies can track their habits. As marketers search for more information on customers to personalize sales and services, CIOs can secure for themselves a more strategic role by championing data integrity and facilitating the governance of what’s becoming every company’s most prized possession.
"When it comes to data privacy, as a CIO, you are the steward of it all," says Tim Buckley, CIO of the Vanguard Group. "You can’t sit back because it gets tougher each year. More and more people are going to want access to your data."