Next 12 Months in Privacy

So the first question for you guys is what do you think will define privacy risk over the next 12 months?

Well, the obvious answer is AI, isn't it? That's what people perceive as the risk, but I don't think AI itself is necessarily the biggest risk.

I think it's how fast moving the environment is, how fast moving the data use is for companies to try and keep up with.

And if they've not got the strong enough controls in place in the first place, if they've got weaknesses and failures within their existing data protection practices, then then I think that's where the real risk lies with AI and some of the other technologies coming through is that suddenly they find themselves in a position of non-compliance or in a position where the ICO might be knocking on the door to have a look at them.

What do you think, Rachel?

Yeah, I think the issue is for us being practitioners, we see even now, you know, how many years after GDPR came in in 2018, a number of clients and organisations we work with still don't have their house in order and AI is moving faster than they can catch up.

So, you know, like Amy said, you know, there's always been something in the legislation around about evidence of compliance, Article 5.2, all around.

It's all well and good having shiny policies.

It's all well and good having training and having things in place.

But if you don't evidence that compliance, I think, as Amy said, the ICO now is probably going to be squeezing people and saying, it's not enough to have that.

I want to see your compliance.

I want to understand that you truly know what you're doing.

And I think I still work with a number of clients that don't have decent retention schedules.

They don't have their process mapped out.

They don't know where all the data is in their business.

Even all these years post GDPR, they're still not there yet.

So I think with AI, that's going to cause them a bigger headache.

Yeah, I think many organisations thought back in 2018 when GDPR arrived, they went, right, okay, done that.

Tick that box.

Yeah.

Only need to do it once, one time exercise.

But they don't realise that with the changes like Brexit changes, the doer changes, the goalposts have been moving little by little over the last few years.

And the consequences of getting it wrong have been increasing.

It's no longer 500k.

It's now, you know, 4% potentially.