Privacy Thought Leaders Brought Their "A" Games for Day Two of IAPP GPS

The two words that best describe the 2023 IAPP Global Privacy Summit are action packed. While yesterday focused heavily on AI and technology, the theme for today’s presentations was deep-diving into future industry insights and innovations. And the sessions, roundtables, and keynotes all addressed that main topic.

Beginning with the closing session keynotes, the speakers all stressed the importance of looking forward. Alvaro Bedoya, a commissioner with the Federal Trade Commission, started the morning off with a presentation on ensuring that future privacy plans address and protect society members’ civil rights. Then, author and professor Dan Bouk spoke about the need for future US Census data to protect human rights. Lastly, an industry pro panel led by IAPP Director Joe Jones talked about future GDPR issues around advertising and international data transfers, and the need to adapt new policies to ensure compliance.

The TRU Team Was Back in Action

TRU Staffing Partners maintained a strong presence again throughout the day, driving content and taking part in meetups to continue the networking momentum started yesterday. TRU’s exclusive session programming pointed to the future as well. Specifically, the impending surge in overall industry usage of data privacy contractors. As the data privacy industry continues to be cautious about full-time hiring, the TRU lunch & learn session The Case for Contracting was timely, welcomed, and well-attended. Attendees learned that contractors fill many voids in a privacy group, including taking on project work, covering full-timers’ relief, and providing specialized skills to help privacy teams build their programs faster and more efficiently. Download the white paper "Expand Your Business Potential with Expert Privacy Contractors" here.

Following that session was a TRU Power Hour Meet & Greet where job seekers and hiring managers got to meet and mingle with key TRU executives. The team made as many introductions as possible in that fast-paced hour. Job seekers had many questions about the viability of becoming a contractor, and it was illuminating to hear how beneficial and economically rewarding privacy contracting can be.

Immediately after the TRU events, many of the team members headed over to the Women Leading Privacy Networking Lunch to join female privacy pros for the next networking event – this session sponsored by Google was jam-packed with key industry leaders and job seekers.

Future-Looking Sessions Abounded

Today’s sessions illustrated how the privacy industry is adapting and growing into the future. The roundtable New Frontiers in US Employment Law, moderated by IAPP’s Amy Olivera, explored what liability issues employers should be thinking about at every stage of the employee lifecycle. Then, The Next Generation of Privacy Professionals: Insights and Innovations panel discussion focused on how the privacy landscape interacts with the priorities of the younger generation.

Another session with much future-looking buzz today was the panel discussion titled A View from the Top: Building the Privacy Governance Program Your Company Needs. It featured privacy pros from Salesforce, Dun & Bradstreet, Marriott, and Freshfields in a wide-ranging presentation that shared insights, strategies, tips, and techniques for moving your privacy governance program forward to better address your company’s needs both today and tomorrow. This session dovetailed neatly with TRU’s Case for Contracting session as both covered myriad ways privacy gurus can build and staff their programs against the backdrop of ever-expanding privacy laws.

Yet another session pointed to the necessity of bringing in contracting pros: Making the Business Case for Privacy: Unlocking Budget & Funding Your Program showed program managers how to communicate effectively with C-suite executives/the board about the value and necessity of data protection as an investment in an organization's future. The panel talked about building a privacy ROI calculator for the C-Suite and board – a surefire way to do that is assign value to team headcount, and if you can’t get the headcount, hire pro contractors to get the work done.

What’s Ahead for the Industry?

So much of GPS was forward-looking, especially pointing to how important privacy has become as technology surges forward and could trample civil rights if not managed properly. Privacy pros need to stand ready to defend consumers from loss and harm, companies from liability, children from exploitation, advertisers from over-stepping, and world-wide research from being misused. The industry has come so far, and has so far to go, and staffing privacy programs properly has never been more important.

The TRU team enjoyed its time at GPS – we hope to see you at the IAPP Privacy. Security. Risk 2023 Conference October 5-6 in San Diego. And if you are thinking of entering the job market to take part in this amazing industry, be sure to check out the TRU Staffing Partners website for the latest full-time and contract opportunities. Hiring managers sign up here for rapid-response contact.

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