At the heart of a growing collection of privacy regulations for
public and private sector organizations is the issue of public trust.
Storing mountains of information electronically and transmitting
it online multiplies the risks of inadvertently disclosing that
information. The consequences of loss of privacy for federal
agencies are grave, ranging from loss of citizen trust to
compromised homeland security. In acknowledgement of the
magnitude of the problem, government has implemented a spate
of privacy regulations discussed later in this report.

It’s important to recognize that privacy does not become optional
in the event of disruption. Arguably, it becomes even more
important because decision-makers might need to collaborate
across organizational boundaries not ordinarily crossed during
normal operations. To ensure that information can flow between
organizations freely and expeditiously during emergencies or other
disruptions, federal agencies cannot afford to rely on timeconsuming
manual security processes requiring human oversight.
Rather, they need integrated security technologies that facilitate
rather than hinder inter-organizational collaboration. Therefore,
privacy and security are inextricable from federal government
continuity of operations (COOP) planning.

Learn more about how Cisco's Solutions help the Fedaral Government sustain inter-agenency cooperation by reading this whitepaper.