By Crystal Woody, Senior Director of Strategic Communications at Privitar

The first day of In:Confidence Digital is in the books– and what an amazing day it was! Members of the data privacy and analytics community came together to participate in interactive sessions from some of the industry’s pioneering speakers.  Bernardo Mariano Junior, CIO, at the World Health Organization stressed the importance of data to optimize the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic, while Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation urged caution against the use of contact tracing. Industry leaders from AstraZeneca and BT gave their insights on safe and efficient data use, and we looked ahead to the future of the data privacy landscape.

On Thursday, May 21st, Privitar will host In:Confidence Digital day two, with privacy experts delivering in-depth workshops and demonstrating how to put the lessons learned on day one into practice. Sean Butler, Privitar’s Director of Product Marketing and host for In:Confidence Digital Day 2 offered a sneak peek into what is in store. The transcript of our interview follows.

For more information or to register for free, visit: https://inconfidence.privitar.com/watch/

CW: You’ve had the opportunity to preview the content from the second day of In:Confidence Digital. What can attendees look forward to learning?
SB: Day 2 of In:Confidence Digital is all about the practitioners, the ones who are tasked with putting together a plan and executing on the steps required to bring privacy into modern, data-driven organization. The content is intriguing because it is designed to provide the audience with actionable takeaways that they can implement in their organization regardless of their current stage of privacy maturity. The topics will be brought to life with interesting examples that illustrate how important people, process, and technology are in achieving a best-in-class privacy organization.

CW: Now, let’s dig into the topics that will be covered during Day two. How does leveraging cloud-based technologies and automation impact the ability to maximize the value of data-driven insights?
SB: Cloud-based technologies and the automation of process has allowed our customers to accelerate their time to data while also broadening their data access. They accomplish this through the systematic application of policies directly on the data that is being made available for consumption in their cloud environment. This allows them to take advantage of the advanced computing power available in the cloud after the data has been made safe for use.

CW: What should an organization consider when evaluating potential data privacy tools?
SB: Key things for an organization to think about when evaluating a data privacy solution are their long term data outlook, in other words not just what are the needs of today but what will their needs be in the next 2-5 years. This vantage point should allow companies to think about how many use cases they will have, how much data they will be consuming, and also and maybe most importantly how sensitive that data will be. After this evaluation, they will be able to make an informed investment as opposed to buying a solution that solves a single pain point but lacks the scalability to grow with your ongoing needs. This is something Mark Semenenko does an excellent job of covering on day 2 of In:Confidence Digital.

CW: What is a privacy center of excellence? Why would a business want to create one? What are the first things to consider when doing so?
SB: The Privacy Center of Excellence (COE) is a team that is designed to elevate the overall privacy posture of your company. This group is tasked with defining privacy policies as well as a key stakeholder in any decision made around how to handle sensitive data. They are created as a way to strategically implement privacy across teams in order to standardize policies and technologies used across the organization. Our Senior Privacy Engineer Pat Bates does an excellent job of outlining how to get your own COE started on day 2!

CW: What piece of advice would you offer to an organization that is trying to balance their data utilization and data protection?
SB: The best piece of advice I can offer is to be customer-centric with your approach to privacy. Privacy and managing sensitive data is about mitigating the risk associated with that data should it be found someplace it shouldn’t be. Consumer trust in your brand can be put at risk constantly if you aren’t implementing a plan to manage privacy. Companies now more than ever need to take the steps to get their people, process, and technology in order with respect to privacy. We are seeing consumers across the globe become less and less tolerant of companies that don’t protect the personal information of their customers and I don’t see that trend changing.

Data Privacy In:Confidence