It was the ICO’s Data Protection Practitioners’ Conference yesterday, and whilst we couldn’t be there we did listen in to the live feed available for some of the speeches.
What was evident is that the focus was on making data protection a matter for the boardroom.
Elizabeth Denham, the Information Commissioner, said “If an organisation can’t demonstrate that good data protection is a cornerstone of their business policy and practices, they’re leaving themselves open to enforcement action that can damage their public reputation and possibly their bank balance. That makes data protection a boardroom issue.” See her script here: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2017/03/data-protection-practitioners-conference-2017/
The emphasis under the GDPRs (and of yesterday’s conference) is the ability to demonstrate accountability – and that must come from the top down to create a culture where data protection is at the centre of business.
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