C&L_December 2017 (1)

December 2017 | CIO&LEADER
1
EDITORIAL
Shyamanuja Das
shyamanuja.das@9dot9.in
The GDPR
Opportunity
I
I am in all my senses when I call GDPR an opportunity,
notwithstanding how ‘stringent’ and ‘suffocating’ it
looks today!
Two trends worldwide are making privacy a big concern—one,
the rise of neo-authoritarian regimes globally
who are using democratic means to rise to power and
two, the increasing entry of technology (and of course,
companies behind them) to our personal space. I will not
be surprised if privacy becomes the biggest political issue
in many democratic countries in the next few years!
As the concerns rise, anything with the potential of
breaking into individual privacy will be seen with suspicion.
Many businesses which have no intention other
than to sell their products and services will be under
scrutiny, impacting their business.
It is better to be over-prepared.
GDPR—and the privacy legislations being enacted
around the world, including in India—give the companies
an excellent opportunity to put transparent processes
in place.
Two trends worldwide
are making privacy a
big concern—one, the
rise of neo-authoritarian
regimes globally who are
using democratic means
to rise to power and two,
the increasing entry of
technology (and of course,
companies behind them) to
our personal space
Complying with
stringent international
regulations are not new to
Indian companies. Being
a hub of services—home
to many global IT, BPO
companies and location
for back-offices of many
large corporations in the
world—Indians have been
used to comply with many
sector-specific as well as
horizontal regulations. It
is not surprising that in
GDPR compliance too, IT/ITES and BFSI companies
are a couple of steps ahead as compared to others.
CISOs and CIOs—the ultimate drivers of most compliance
journeys—have challenging times ahead.
While GDPR will be relevant for only companies
that have something to do with EU citizens data,
India is enacting its own regulation. A committee
appointed by the Government and headed by a former
Supreme Court judge has come up with a comprehensive
discussion paper on the issues at hand. In
this issue, we present you a set of what we think are
the most relevant questions for you—in just 5-6 pages.
The document is 233-pages long.
The pace at which the committee is working, I will
not be surprised if, by next year this time, we would
be discussing the implementation plans for Indian
personal data security legislation.
Yes, one of the new requirements may be the
appointment of a chief data protection officer. And
there may even be provisions that the person should
be exclusively devoted to that.
Security professionals will be the first choice. But do
we have that kind of talent available? That is another
big discussion that we must have.
Hope the year 2017 has been great for you. And
wishing you a happy new year 2018