In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. “Personally identifiable information” means information that, alone or in combination, makes it possible to identify an individual student with reasonable certainty. “Student data” means any personally identifiable information relating to an identified or identifiable student in the State.

The Department, in consultation with the Department of Information Technology and county boards, shall develop and update best practices for county boards to: Manage and maintain data privacy and security practices in the processing of student data and personally identifiable information across the county board’s information technology and records management systems; Develop and implement: A data privacy and security incident response plan; A breach notification plan; and Procedures and requirements for allowing access to student data and personally identifiable information for a legitimate research purpose; and Publish information annually on: Types of student data and personally identifiable information processed by the county board, the protocols for processing student data, and the rationales for selecting processing protocols; Contracted services that involve sharing student data between a county board and a school service contract provider; and Procedures and rationales for vetting and selecting Internet sites, services, and applications.

The Department, in consultation with the Department of Information Technology and county boards, shall develop and update best practices for professional development on data governance policies and procedures. A county board may implement the best practices for professional development on data governance policies and procedures developed under subsection (a) of this section.

The Department shall develop strategies to coordinate and assist local data governance staff in the counties to implement best practices developed under § 7–2102 of this subtitle. A county board may designate an employee to manage and maintain a data governance program in the county that meets the requirements of § 7–2102 of this subtitle.

The Department shall adopt regulations to implement the requirements of this subtitle.