As you may be aware, senior staff from this Office have provided some of your members with presentations and updates on the imminent reform of data protection legislation for the Bailiwick.
We are, at the ODPC, conscious of the ambitious timetable of this reform.
The legislation coming into force in the Bailiwick in May this year will place us amongst the global leaders in this field. There are huge advantages for us in progressing with this ambitious agenda, both in terms of individual’s rights in this digital era, and the maintenance of standards that will ensure protection of the free flow of data to the Islands from the EU.
Clearly this is hugely important for our economy. But the speed of change inevitably means that local organisations are under some pressure to keep abreast of the changes and understand how best to prepare for them.
It is important, especially for smaller organisations and third sector organisations (who we recognise do not always have the resources or skills at their disposal that larger organisations do) to know that we are alive to the pressures on them at this time.
The current data protection law imposes certain standards of compliance which all local organisations need to understand and engage with. If you are doing that effectively, May will require an update and improvement of the procedures already in place. We therefore urge all local organisations to review their current position. But we do, at this Office, recognise the role we need to play in supporting all organisations in achieving high standards of compliance.
We are working very hard to deliver on the reform project for our own Office which will see us better placed to deliver on the new duties we are to be given under the new legislation, including the provision of practical and meaningful guidance. First and foremost it is for every local business to understand their own compliance requirements and respond to them, but it benefits us as much as it benefits you when you do that well so we want to help make compliance achievable as possible and support you in that objective.
Business relationships are built on trust, and paying regard to the important rights of your clients, staff, donors etc. will play a big part. We will be publishing information tailored to certain sectors but there are practical steps you can take now to review and improve your practices which can be found
here.
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