28th January is of course, the anniversary of the opening for signature of European Convention 108 for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, a landmark treaty in the world of data protection and privacy. To celebrate, International Privacy Day this year the Outsourced DPO wrote a data protection quiz which is available on the DPP website (Data Protection Quiz) Last year we sent Thorntons’ chocolates to our customers and in previous years we have produced balloons, posters, pens, mugs, tee shirts, mouse mats and all sorts of wonderful nick-nacks to help draw attention to the day and what it stands for.
Data protection professionals often need things to hang their messages on and the International Data Protection/Privacy Day is a great platform for awareness raising and training.
The quiz has received mixed feedback with many people complaining that it is too difficult! It is true that the purpose of the quiz was to test knowledge of data protection law and it’s application – it was not designed to be a triviality. Quizzes with questions such as, how many data protection principles are there? A) 1, B) ½ , C) 750,000 d) 7 seem pretty pointless as a true test of knowledge.
Another reason why the Outsourced DPO’s quiz might be a little on the wicked side is that it was developed whist putting the final touches to Data Protection People’s soon-to-be-launched 5-day training program for data protection and privacy officers. These programs will be run in Leeds and London from the Spring and will be an immersive, hands-on experience designed to give people the confidence to read the law and the guidance and to make balanced and informed decisions. They are designed to equip participants with the skills, templates, back-ground knowledge, and experience to confidently do the things that privacy professionals need to do in the work place. It’s been great fun putting the course together – the International DP Day celebratory quiz came about whilst designing the multi-choice elements of the training program’s final assessment. So it was written in the anticipation that people taking the quiz have benefited from at least 5 days’ training in data protection law and practice.
The Outsourced DPO encourages you to take the quiz and to share it with others. We welcome feedback, and suggestions, and, as always, we’re very happy to enter into discussion about any of the issues raised. There are few things the Outsourced DPO likes better than chatting about data protection!