Senate committee unanimously forwards Nora Kurzova for state privacy officer

The Senate Government Operations Confirmation Committee on Aug. 8 unanimously voted to forward Nora Kurzova's nomination for the state privacy officer (chief privacy auditor) to the full Utah Senate for confirmation.

Kurzova introduced herself to the committee as a privacy professional with more than 20 years of experience and described the office’s role in protecting personal data across state government. "My name is Nora Kurzova, and I am a privacy professional with over 20 years of experience," she told the committee, noting she previously served two years in the state as a Deputy Privacy Officer at the Office of the State Auditor.

The nomination drew a public endorsement from State Auditor Tina Cannon, who said Kurzova stood out during the hiring process and praised her communication skills and commitment to privacy as a human right. "It is my honor to nominate her for this position," Cannon said, urging the committee to support the nomination.

In questioning, Senator Vickers asked for more detail about the office’s responsibilities. Kurzova described the office’s work as reviewing what types of data government entities collect, conducting privacy risk assessments and performing privacy "health checks" to identify gaps and produce recommendations. She told the committee the office currently oversees more than 1,200 governmental entities and conducts outreach and training: "In the last year, I have personally trained over 2 and a half thousand governmental employees," Kurzova said.

Kurzova also addressed incident response: she said state code does not currently require the office to participate in every breach response, but the office sometimes coordinates with the state's cyber center and offers training and lessons learned to affected entities. "Currently, the code does not involve us, does not give us the requirement to be involved," Kurzova said.

After public comment and brief discussion, Senator Thatcher moved that the committee favorably recommend Kurzova to the full Senate for confirmation. The committee called the question; the vote was recorded as unanimous.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve minutes of Aug. 8, 2024 (motion to approve minutes): moved by Senator Vickers; outcome: approved, unanimous (ayes recorded). - Motion to favorably recommend Nora Kurzova to the full Senate for confirmation (nomination): moved by Senator Thatcher; outcome: favorably recommended, unanimous (ayes recorded). - Motion to adjourn: moved and approved, unanimous (ayes recorded).

The committee’s recommendation moves Kurzova’s nomination to the full Senate, which will consider confirmation at a later floor session. The committee did not identify any statutory provision requiring the privacy office’s mandatory involvement in every breach response during the hearing.