Introducing the amazing Natalie Bennett
Can you tell us a bit about your role at DPAS?
I lead our consultancy team. So my role is pretty varied. I manage my own regular clients, and I’m involved in the onboarding of new ones. I’m involved in anything from outsourced DPO services, to larger compliance projects, alongside supporting the rest of the consultancy team on their projects and tasks. I also deliver some of our accredited training courses. So, quite a diverse role, but that’s what makes it interesting!
What does your average day look like at DPAS?
Unpredictable! No two days are ever the same. Of course, there is the usual stuff; checking emails and responding to ad-hoc advice requests, but my day is really driven by what my clients, and the team, need, and what meetings or deadlines I have coming up. There are usually a handful of large compliance projects running alongside one another, so I spend the bulk of my time getting work finalised to deliver to clients.
What attracted you to DPAS?
I was looking for a new challenge, as cliche as that sounds. I had been teaching secondary maths for a while, and had been picking up ad-hoc work alongside travelling and working some interesting interim/temp jobs, so it was time to find something local, and with longevity. DPAS fit the bill, with great staff development opportunities, and exciting plans for the future, it was a great fit.
What do you do in your personal life?
I am pretty unexciting if I am honest, I like the peace and quiet of being at home. If I am out, you will find me with my friends overeating and (over) indulging in wine somewhere!
What’s one achievement you’d like to accomplish (work or personal) in the next 5 years?
I like to learn, so I would like to dedicate time to study more, whether that be casual reading, or more professional qualifications.
What’s the best place you’ve ever been to?
There’s lots, I have liked lots of places for different reasons, and have been fortunate enough to travel quite a lot, including to some unusual destinations. If I had to pick an all round favourite it would likely be Vietnam, the people, culture, history, and food, are all incredible.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you bring?
Do you want a serious answer or an honest one? We all know that a knife, water filtration, and some sort of fire starter (or similar) would be the sensible idea. But I would probably rather have a bottle of wine, a book, and a decent pillow.
Do you have any predictions about the future of data protection?
Predications, hmm, tech is changing all the time, and will no doubt alter the way we work. Coupled with the changes to legislation we are expecting I think we will see a lot of transformation over the next few years – how that will look I am not sure. But with the introduction of more technology in day-to-day life, alongside some incredible achievements in AI, the environment we work in is going to have to evolve to keep up.
We recently published an article talking about our 2023 Data Protection Predictions, if this is something you’d like to read more about.
Want to talk to Nat about your data protection requirements? Just get in touch with her at natalie.bennett@dataprivacyadvisory.com.
You can meet the rest of our team, or check out our other staff profiles on Alex and Jack, Emma, Mel and Charlotte.
