Although firms have probably become more permissive since, a survey by Robert Half Technology, a recruitment agency, found in 2009 that more than half of chief information officers in America blocked the use of sites such as Facebook at work.

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Instead of holding state-wide authority, the chief information security officer was often in the position of coordinating cross-agency resources.

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The White House's position detailed in this response builds on some critical thinking done by the President's chief advisory Agency on these matters: the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

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However, Mr Paterson insisted he had "discussed this issue yesterday with the chief executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), who is completely satisfied that the information required from Sodexo has been supplied".

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