Seasoned IG professionals offer invaluable advice, having tackled data protection hurdles and shaped best practices over years in the field. By listening to their journeys, new IG professionals can better prepare themselves to face tomorrow’s IG challenges with confidence.
In Episode 1 of the Guardians of Data podcast our guest was Jon Baines who is a senior data protection specialist at Mishcon de Reya LLP, a law firm where he advises on complex data protection and freedom of information matters. Jon isn’t a lawyer in the traditional sense, yet he has been listed in Legal 500 as a rising star in the data protection, privacy and cybersecurity category. Jon is also the long standing chair of the National Association of Data Protection and Freedom of Information Officers.
In the podcast, our conversation ranges widely and goes into Jon’s route to the law, what sort of work a non-lawyer like gets involved in at a law firm, whether young professionals need to or should qualify as solicitors in order to develop a career in information law, some of the specialisms and the history of Mishcon de Reya LLP; and developments of data protection in the age of AI.
The following is an abridged version of the podcast focusing on Jon’s advice to IG professionals.
Question: You’ve proved that you don’t need to be a lawyer to work at the cutting edge of information law. What skills or perspectives can non-lawyers bring that make them particularly valuable in this field?
Answer: Critical thinking. I’m a big advocate for seeing both sides. I nearly always, when I approach a task or an instruction, think “if I were advising the other side, what would I be doing?” Because I think it’s really important that you don’t just see the positives on your side; that ability to see across the issue and be able to challenge yourself is important. And that’s part of critical thinking.
In a lot of data protection matters, it’s important to remember that a data subject is all of us effectively; we are all data subjects. Data protection is about a fundamental right, let’s call it the right to respect for our personal information and a limited right to control that information. So a certain amount of empathy is important.
It’s also important to understand how commerce works; data protection law doesn’t exist in a vacuum. As I say, it’s about us; it’s about our information. It’s also about how that information, operates and can be used within a commercial world, a business world, a public service world. We don’t have a complete right to privacy, let alone privacy of our information. It’s a qualified right. So I think an understanding of business and understanding that business needs data in order to operate is important.
What is your advice for those who are new to the IG profession?
I think one of the biggest skills you need is being able to be across the whole organisation that you work for. So don’t work in a silo. Your role might be part of Legal etc. but make sure that you get out and learn about your organisation. Make sure that people know who you are. It’s old fashioned internal networking, I guess.
How should IG professionals, position themselves, to add value to AI projects?
Well, it kind of makes me think of the old Data Protection Impact Assessment or prior to GDPR, when we called them privacy impact assessments. It’s not much use being part of that sort of project if you’re only brought in at the last moment. The whole idea of risk assessment is to assess in advance. So it’s important for IG professionals to remind those setting up AI projects that their input is needed from the start; indeed, even before a decision is taken to initiate a project. There are going to be few AI projects that will not involve data protection, in some way or another, or that don’t have the potential to do so in the future. So I think it’s as simple as that really. Try and make sure you’ve got your foot in the door at the start, because it’s going to be very difficult to do your job if you’re brought in at the last moment.
If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of career advice, what would it be?
I would probably tell myself that, just in the years after graduation, time goes quite quickly. And whilst I wouldn’t ever want to put pressure on my younger self, I think I would want to tell my younger self to “pull your socks up” a bit and start doing this sort of thing earlier. I think I drifted for a number of years and, as I get older, I increasingly find myself in this role of elder sage and telling young people, don’t waste time; it goes so quickly.
How useful is NADPO in terms of professional development?
NADPO is a venerable institution. It’s been going since 1993. We’re an association of information law professionals and by that I mean there are DPOs, there are FOI officers, there are lawyers, there are some journalist members, academics etc. So everyone is welcome. We exist to support the profession by providing an opportunity to learn from experts (whilst we don’t do direct training). So for a payment of, what’s rather an eccentric, membership fee of £130 for two years, you get to attend our in-person events, which includes our annual conference where we have seven or eight expert speakers talking on various areas of information law. We also have monthly webinars and a range of other member benefits. I’m very keen that NADPO is for its members. So I love it when members come to me with ideas for speakers or offers. Like I say, it’s open to anyone who’s working in or really interested in the area of data protection, FOI and IG.
You can listen to the full Episode 1 podcast with Jon here.
More valuable careers advice in Episode 5 where our guest is Raz Edwards, Head of Data Security and Protection at Wolverhampton NHS Trust. In our conversation, Raz shares her journey into Information Governance, the challenges she’s faced and overcome as an IG leader, her advice for both new starters and seasoned professionals and her perspective on the future of the profession. She also reflects on what she’s learned through her tribunal role and what it takes to succeed as an IG leader.
