Many organisations will have to appoint or have already appointed a data protection officer (also known as an information officer in some jurisdictions). A data protection officer (DPO) is the person in a leadership role at an organisation responsible for overseeing its data protection compliance and implementation strategy. We like to think of them as the person who the buck stops with, from a data protection perspective. Join us for a webinar on how and why the buck stops with your data protection officer.
Why is the role of the data protection officer important?
The role of the data protection officer is a key position
Not every organisation needs one. However, the law may require you to appoint one under certain circumstances or automatically designate someone to fulfil the role (until they delegate it), such as your CEO – depending on the jurisdiction.
They’re an important person and whether your data protection compliance and implementation strategy succeeds or fails depends on how carefully you choose them and support their efforts.
How the buck stops with your data protection officer
A data protection officer often acts as the link between your organisation and supervisory authorities, your vendors or suppliers and your customers or the public at large, when it comes to data protection. The data protection officer reports to the top decision-makers in your organisation and needs access to the necessary funds, personnel and other resources to do their job. Once you understand what a data protection officer is, you can begin to ask critical questions – like:
- Who needs a data protection officer? Does my organisation have to have one in terms of the law or should we choose to have one for other reasons?
- How do we appoint a data protection officer? Is a letter sufficient or do we need a contract?
- If we need a data protection officer contract, what provisions should it contain?
- What are the duties or responsibilities of a data protection officer? What skills should they have?
- What kind of background should a data protection officer have? Should they be a lawyer, an auditor or someone else?
- Can we outsource the role of the data protection officer to someone outside of our organisation? What questions should we ask when doing so and how should we contract with them?
- Can a data protection officer be held personally liable for a failure to protect personal data?
Answering these questions can help you:
- appoint the best possible data protection officer for your organisation;
- regulate your relationship with them effectively and without problems; and
- get ahead of the game by having strong leadership for your data protection compliance and implementation strategy.
What you can do to understand the role of the data protection officer
You could attend our webinar where we’ll answer the questions above as well as others!
We offer a webinar called ‘The buck stops here: understanding the role of the data protection officer’. You can join it online from the comfort of your own device and benefit from several specialist data protection lawyers discussing the role of the data protection officer. You can then ask your questions and have them answered on the turn.
If you’re interested in a webinar, please