Welcome to WLC Blog

Dear Reader,

Welcome to WLC Blog.

Content on data privacy is being created and posted day after day in media sites, LinkedIn or privacy blogs, and particularly after the CJEU delivers a long-awaited judgement or the EDPB releases a draft opinion. In those occasions the online data privacy world lights up: legal analysis of the cases, reactions and reviews are published, and casual and professional readers alike find themselves caught in the swirl of information.

Notwithstanding the excellent quality of much of the data privacy content available, the availability of information in relation to the practical implementation of data privacy requirements and best practices is limited, and the practical struggles that an organisation faces have received little attention. For instance, 

• It is widely acknowledged that current cookie banners are not ok, but what would make them so?
• Privacy is seen as a differentiator, but what does it take to strategically align privacy ambitions with company objectives and development goals? And how can we be data driven and at the same time protect our users’ data? 
• Company’s legitimate interest needs to be balanced against rights and interests of the data subject, but  how do I do that when there are some truly justifiable interests to consider on both sides?

Many of these questions (and thus frustrations) are underpinned with a lack of clarity on the ‘how’. The bar in privacy has been set very high by the legislation in force and the authorities’ interpretation of it.Yet no one seems to be pragmatically saying how to reach that level.  

Some organisations have raised the standards even higher: they are able to invest in the development of their privacy policies, practices, systems. At the same time, they will make use of this leverage to take privacy-related risks. However, those companies that want to do the right thing are often left wondering: ‘how, given our limited resources but also our best intentions, can we make it right?’

This, dear Reader, is a blog where we relentlessly push ourselves in the quest for practical answers to practical questions – and yes, we would also love to discuss some of theoretical privacy conundrums sometimes. We commit ourselves to cover the topics through the lens of data privacy professionals who focus on hands-on implementation rather than privacy theory; we will write about them from the perspective of the business that is enduring challenges in relation to the privacy issues in the organisation.

What you can expect from us are articles that not only aim at offering sound answers to data privacy issues from a pragmatic perspective, but also raise a critical voice in relation to the guidance and advice provided by the official bodies.

We look forward welcoming you in future posts.

Yours,

WLC Team