Emma Martins speaks at international data protection summit

Published: 9 October 2019

The Bailiwick’s Data Protection Commissioner, Emma Martins, was an invited speaker at a recent international data protection conference.

‘PrivSec’ took place in Dublin on 23 and 24 September and the two day summit brought together over 700 worldwide delegates in privacy and data protection to hear an international line-up of expert speakers. Alongside Mrs Martins, representatives from Google, Hewlett Packard, Etihad Airways, Aviva and the Bank of Ireland explored a range of conference topics covering data protection, security and governance and how successful data protection and security programmes need to be interdependent.

Mrs Martins commented on how data protection has shifted from being merely tolerated to actively embraced.
‘It was thrilling to be part of PrivSec this year, there was genuine excitement in the room when privacy activists Max Schrems and David Carroll took the stage, and I’m so grateful to have witnessed that. It was humbling to represent our Bailiwick alongside global heavyweight organisations. We should be proud, as a jurisdiction, that the international community is aware of the approach we’re taking towards effective, independent regulation that encourages our regulated community towards excellence, and protects individuals’ rights.’
Mrs Martins spoke on four key areas of regulation: prediction, prevention, detection and enforcement. Central to her presentation was how regulators should aim for balance across these four areas by describing The Office of the Data Protection Authority’s (ODPA) approach, the implications for regulated entities and how it can secure better outcomes.