Forks Looks Into Privacy Policies

Forks Township will continue to look into the township’s privacy policies in order to prevent future mishandling of residents' information for political gain.

Last night, the board handed off the task of reviewing the township’s current policies to the township manager, finance manager and parks and recreation director before coming back with more information at the June meeting.

The matter of privacy came to a head in April after Supervisors C. David Howell and Lilly Gioia retained attorney George A. Heitczman, who sent a letter to the township regarding possible mishandling of phone numbers and email addresses by the Forks Township Athletic Association.

Gioia and Howell are running for re-election in the May 17 primary.

The FTAA is a non-profit organization and is prohibited from engaging in political activities. The Forks Township Youth Sports Organization is part of that organization. FTYSO President Dan Martyak is a Republican supervisor candidate in the primary.

Last night, Martyak acknowledged receipt of an additional letter Heitczman sent to the organization, but would not comment further on the matter. The letter requests information on the organization’s privacy policies and how it is distributed with regard to participants who sign up for athletics.

According to township Solicitor Karl Kline, the FTAA is not a body of Forks Township. It is a non-profit organization that has its own rules, bylaws and structure.

“The concern is to protect the interest of the board and the township,” said Kline. “That’s what I think the focus needs to be tonight. That information needs to be protected and ensure that information is not used for other purposes such as political activities,” he added.

Currently, there is information regarding privacy in the township employee manual, but according to Kline, that information pertains to non-job-related solicitation such as sharing private information for commercial, electoral or religious gain.

“There should be a clearer identification of privacy of information of what residents give to the township,” said Kline. “There is certainly room to have that tightened up to ensure that information is received and is only used for appropriate purposes,” he added.  

The township already collects information on residents for utility billing and the township’s newsletter that is issued quarterly.