As we enter a new year and are inundated with chants of ‘New year new you’, we’d like to pause, take a breath, and reflect on everything that happened for us in 2022.
Spring 2022: DPAS EVENTS
We started the year off with an all-out celebration for Data Protection Week (a practitioners’ paradise). Joining the international effort to encourage everyone to embrace their data privacy responsibilities, we posted a week’s worth of tricks and tips on a range of subjects, from handling SARs, to understanding cookies.
As spring sprung we assembled our entire team for a staff training weekend in beautiful mid Devon. We delivered presentations and brainstormed new ideas to develop both new and existing branches of our business. We were also joined by Oliver from Monkey’s Paw Consultancy Ltd, who collaborated with our team on a more intuitive, agile sales approach. Most importantly, we indulged in a game of rounders with our sponsored Exeter Chiefs player Abby Middlebrook.
In the wonderful world of data protection, we celebrated the 4th anniversary of GDPR by releasing our very own Nigel Gooding’s dissertation, discussing the historical context and political climate which led to the passage of the GDPR and the UK’s Data Protection Act.
ICO25
The ICO were certainly busy this summer with their launch of ICO25, a report which outlines the “strategic enduring objectives” for the next three years. In it, they highlighted their focus on clamping down on illegal marketing practices, as well as working together with public authorities to improve their compliance. They also provided several new guidance documents, including a new journalism code of practice and a brand-new international transfers risks assessment tool (which we covered in detail on our December bullettin HERE ). They even had a spare moment to throw their annual Data Protection Practitioners conference on the 19th of July.
The Children’s Code
September meant the anniversary of the Children’s Code, a crucial code of practice (with design guidance), outlining how any online services–which children may access–should protect them in digital spaces. Although it’s not a law and is thus not-binding in a legal sense, compliance (or lack thereof) with it will be a factor the ICO will consider in the event of any breaches or other events that lead to children being put at risk by an organisation’s products or services.
Autumn/Winter 2022
It’s no secret that we’re all big rugby fans at DPAS. In October we had a training session with our sponsored athletes, Exeter Chiefs players Abby Middleton and Jack Yeandle. We recently met up to score a try or two and discuss tactics on field and in the boardroom. We even had time for a cartwheel or two.
In support of the ICO’s warning that internal complacency can lead to data breaches (not to mention the hefty fine they handed to company Interserve), we launched our data breach blog series, covering everything from identifying a breach to reporting and responding to them. You can find them here: Identifying data breaches and Responding to data breaches
DPAS Conference 2023
In November we took the plunge to Engage, Educate and Empower, starting preparations for our first conference; the DPAS South West Data Protection and Information Governance event. Working in partnership with Responsum, we’re bringing together world renowned privacy and data strategy experts to discuss hot topics within the industry to help you within your role. We’ve got some very exciting speakers and guests that will train, inform, and educate you and your team. Interested in reserving a spot? We’ve got you covered, click here!
We wound down for December with our 12 days of Data Protection Christmas. As the festive season rolled in, we rolled out to Dublin for a two night stay to celebrate everything we’ve achieved this year.
Phew, what a year! We can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store for us.
