Privacy provides any individual the right to determine for themselves when, how and to what extent personal information about them is shared with or communicated to others.

Personal information can be one's name, location, contact information or online or real-world behavior.

Just as someone may wish to exclude people from a private conversation, many online users want to control or prevent certain types of personal data collection.

Data privacy is important because it empowers people to control who accesses their personal information and how it’s used. Without such protections, they are exposed to unending risks – a main one being identity theft.

Cybercriminals can use exposed sensitive data, like Social Security numbers, to impersonate people. This can lead to unauthorized transactions, fake accounts or legal issues for actions the person didn’t commit.

The Office of Privacy and Data Protection is committed to ensuring the people of North Carolina are protected from unauthorized access or use of their data, which can lead to unauthorized transactions thereby affecting their credit, their social lives and their finances.  

The office wants every person in the state to have autonomy over their personal information, confidence in the manner in which the state handles their data and has visibility into the use of their data.