Exciting times and data protection trends in the region

While keeping sensitive data secure is incumbent upon organisations that handle personal information, it should not be the overriding focus.

Such is the opinion of lawyer Jon Bello (CIPM, CIPP/E, FIP), who was formerly the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) KnowledgeNet Philippines Chapter Chairman.

The Manila-based lawyer, with more than 20 years of experience in the field, is a partner at Medialdea Bello and Suarez Law and is currently an IAPP Asia Advisory Board Member.

A former in-house counsel for a business process outsourcing (BPO) company in the Philippines, Bello has a background in litigation and regulatory compliance, and now assists his firm’s various clients in the Asia-Pacific region on data privacy compliance.

Jon Bello

Bello was recently in Singapore to attend the IAPP Asia Privacy Forum, which was held on 18 and 19 July 2022 as part of Personal Data Protection Week 2022, organised by the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) of Singapore.

He spoke at the panel session, “Operationalising Data Retention Programmes & Creating a Collaborative Process”, and shared his insights with DPEX Network, about some of the latest trends and hot data protection topics, on the sidelines of the event.

Having worked for one of the largest BPOs in the Philippines, and with the unique experience of having assisted clients on data privacy compliance and data retention programmes, Bello said he shared his insights and talked about current enforcement actions during the panel.

“I’m not here just as a speaker, but to learn as well from other speakers, my colleagues in this field and privacy professionals from all over the world,” he said.

One observation, in his experience, was that too many organisations focused on infosecurity at the expense of other important data protection principles.

At the event, where he was part of many conversations with fellow speakers and other movers and shakers at the forum, he also noted that there was much interest and focus on recent developments in the region.

For instance, Leandro Angelo Y. Aguirre, Deputy Commissioner at National Privacy Commission, Philippines, spoke about soon-to-be-issued circulars on fines in the Philippines, which outline financial penalties that can really affect an organisation’s bottom line.

Click to watch Part 1 of the interview.

Exciting times

“It’s very exciting times for the region,” he added, noting the establishment of new data privacy regulations in China and Thailand, with new laws coming up in Indonesia and Brunei.

“People have to really educate themselves on these new developments, and there was also a lot of talk about the growing trends of artificial intelligence and governance,” said Bello, who in his previous KnowledgeNet role organised many events to raise awareness of data protection and advocated for more privacy professionals to take up certification.

After the pandemic created a rush to embrace digital transformation, oftentimes out of necessity rather than choice, he noted, topics such as AI and privacy by design (PbD) have been discussed in data protection circles.

“Now, we must figure out how to put more robust data governance in place. You can’t just achieve good data governance overnight; you need specific training, exposure and experience.”

He added that companies are hiring for new roles requiring “higher skill sets” to this end.

“When you dig deeper, data protection is not just the responsibility of one team, but of several teams. And it’s really hard to navigate such complexity within an organisation.”

Read and watch Part 2 of the interview to learn about how Jon Bello started on his data protection journey.