November 2023

My career in data protection started many years ago when I took on the role of a DPO (data protection officer). I have been determined never to forget the realities and challenges of navigating that role. Good DPOs make for good (compliant) controllers!

Martin Hoskins has a wealth of experience at the coal face of life as a DPO. That matters. Like so many things, you really do need to walk in the shoes to understand the role.

The book he has written is framed as ‘letters to aspiring privacy pros’ but one of the great joys (and difficulties!) of life as a DPO is that the job, and the learning, is never done. We should never stop aspiring! It is not a task that, once learnt, will set you up for life. It involves constant learning, occasional successes, frequent failings and continuous improvement.

There are many things I love about this book including its heart and soul, its honesty and humility, and its pragmatism. Data protection law is so much more than a piece of dry legal text, it gets to the heart of how we treat each other. It is a fundamentally human issue and we need to approach it as such.

Hoskins mentions the author Oliver Burkeman’s observation that ‘often, by doing your thing - as opposed to what you think you ought to be doing - you kindle a fire that helps to keep the rest of us warm.’

From a more personal perspective, Hoskins also talks eloquently at the end of the book about when it’s time to move on, and his words resonate powerfully for me as I look ahead to the end of my term. He includes a simply beautiful letter written by Martin Smith (founder of the Security Awareness Special Interest Group) which I had not come across before and commend to you all, especially if you are nearing the end of one chapter and the start of a new one in your life.

This is a book that should be on every DPO’s shelf, regardless of whether you consider yourself aspiring or experienced. Actually, it’s a book that should be on the shelf of everyone who has any interest in data.