Quick question… Do you have an effective privacy organisation?

Upcoming changes to privacy regulation in the EU as well as rising business awareness that effective data privacy means competitive differentiation in the market makes privacy a business priority today.

And this is not only relevant for tech giants: protecting both customer and employee privacy is a business priority for companies of all sizes and across industries.

But as Heidi Shey, research analyst, Forrester Research asks, where do you start?

“Many companies start by hiring a chief privacy officer,” Shey claims. “Some have built brand-new privacy teams that manage privacy for the whole firm, while others prefer a decentralised model where responsibilities are shared across teams.

“What are the pros and cons of each approach? Which organisational structure would better meet the needs of your firm?”

And when your privacy organisation is in place, Shey asks how do you establish smooth collaboration with other teams like marketing and digital, for example?

“Too often we hear that privacy teams do not have the visibility that they need into the data-driven initiatives happening within the company,” she adds.

“When this happens, privacy organisations are less effective and the business risks failing its customers, undermining their expectation for privacy.”