Indiana taps its director of digital governance to also serve as chief privacy officer
John Stark, who has served as Indiana’s director of digital governance since August, has been tapped to serve as the state’s chief privacy officer.
Indiana Chief Data Officer Pete Miller moved Stark into the role on Sept. 1.
Prior to directing the state’s digital governance efforts for the Indiana Management Performance Hub, Stark served as the hub’s director of data governance since August 2024. He joined MPH in 2023 as an associate data governance project manager, and prior to that, he held roles in the state’s Department of Revenue and the Office of Technology Services.
Stark fills a role left vacant by Ted Cotterill, who stepped down in February 2025 for a role in the private sector after about eight years with MPH. The role was temporarily filled by MPH’s assistant general counsel, and then Miller for a time.
During his time in the public sector, Cotterill helped to develop the state’s privacy program for agencies to comply with privacy obligations and “worked on creating a risk management framework to guarantee the right individuals have access to the right data for the right purposes,” MPH said on LinkedIn.
In his digital governance role, Stark leads the team developing enterprise governance frameworks, advancing AI governance and enabling responsible data use across Indiana’s state government, said Jeff Mullins, communications director at MPH. The team works collaboratively across agencies to strengthen data quality, reduce risk and promote transparency in organizational data.
As the chief privacy officer, Stark will partner with state agencies to enable innovation and the adoption of emerging technologies while maintaining privacy as a core value — balancing the efficient and ethical use of data with the protection of Hoosiers’ privacy.
“I step into this position with the utmost respect and sincerity. Protecting the privacy of Hoosiers is foundational to the work we do every day at the State, and I look forward to building upon the stellar work of my predecessors,” Stark said on LinkedIn.
