I asked my colleague Daniel Pradelles to give you an update on privacy and data protection at HP. Enjoy reading. Jeannette

HP leads the way on the Accountability path…

“Privacy and data protection. These words should provide a sense of safety and trust on the personal data processing and the company responsible for undertaking it. However, these days for many individuals, they give grave cause for concern... How can we be sure that details of transactions cannot be detected? That data is used in line with users’ expectations and that confidences are kept? How confident can we be that companies will willingly be accountable for guarding our privacy?” 

It has to be said that the concerns above may well impact the nascent ‘information society’ and its multiple, recent and promising evolutions, such as the internet, ambient intelligence, smart objects, cloud computing, social medias or social networking. Inappropriate handling may seriously reduce or slow down users’ benefits.

In order to address these concerns effectively, HP has been working with the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (CIPL), representatives from major industry partners, consumer protection groups and regulatory agencies to develop a Working Paper that sets out the essential elements of a new concept called ‘Accountability in Privacy Governance’.

The challenge is that all of us – companies, institutions and regulatory agencies - have different policies and practices on privacy, different visions and contexts. Consequently, our solutions for effective data protection management are different. How can anyone be sure that such solutions are adequate and that they are completely accountable for their actions? There is a need to formalise the accountability concept and its meaning and we need to do our best to harmonise the different approaches.

Our main goal is to look at accountability through several specific themes, such as: i) How it links to Privacy Governance issues, ii) What the essential elements of accountability are that link to trust in data management, iii) How to measure accountability, iv) The key linkage with another major concept named ‘privacy by design’, v) What the main incentives are for privacy accountability and finally vi) The challenges of certification and oversight.

Our aim, therefore, is to really work on the definitions and the key elements of accountability so that we can prepare a comprehensive document that contains new trends, practices and opinions on accountability that will be commonly accepted. Once completed, this Working Paper will be submitted for consideration and discussion to a number of major privacy regulators & international organisations, all of whom work to ensure consistent accountability strategy.

The importance of such an approach, which is at the heart of HP’s plans, has already been acknowledged in a recently released ‘Review of Data Protection Directive’ study produced by Rand Europe for Richard Thomas, UK Information Commissioner. Let me finish my blog entry again with a quotation from Richard, who stated in the forward of the study:

“A vital theme is accountability. Primary responsibility must be placed on organisations to get it right and they must be held to account if they get it wrong. Organisations must deploy the right technology and have a privacy-by-design approach at the heart of their plans. »

Thanks for reading.

Daniel PRADELLES EMEA Privacy Officer HP CCF

You can read more on Accountability in a recent article  in the HP Global Citizenship Bulletin.