Spotlight On... Vanithamani Duraisamy, Assistant Vice President in insurance

In this edition, we feature Vanithamani Duraisamy, CIPM, CIPT, CPIA (IAPP), Assistant Vice President of Great Eastern 

Please share with us your background.

I am a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM), Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) and Certified Information Privacy Professional/Asia (CIPP/A) with 20 years of experience in both manufacturing, service and insurance sectors. I have dedicated my professional career providing PDPA compliance advisory to management and business users as well as guidance and support in data governance initiatives within the organisation.

How is it that you got interested in data protection?

My role in Great Eastern Life Assurance (M) Berhad was ensuring ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems compliance as well as leading and managing Six Sigma projects; in 2016, my Chief Operations Officer had offered me to set up the Data Protection & Governance team which was aligned with our Group direction.

Since I was always on the lookout to learn new skills and the knowing the way forward in advancing one’s career is by adapting to changing and evolving work demands, I accepted the offer and my journey in data protection started.

What data protection courses did you take from Straits Interactive and why?

In my search to equip myself with a deeper knowledge of data protection, I was fortunate to have found Straits Interactive Pte Ltd as my go-to data protection related training. I took up the Data Protection Workshop in 2016, and subsequently the CIPM training in 2017. Later in 2019, I completed both my CIPT and CIPP/A.

The data protection programs offered by Straits Interactive are different from any other training providers as the whole team in Straits work together in ensuring an excellent learning environment for the participants; providing practical examples, performing case studies depicting actual data protection work scenarios as well as extending valuable advice on the expectations in the data protection line of work.

I personally found them to be great motivators as the journey in data protection can be lonely at times.

What is your current job role, which data protection function are you involved in?

My role as Assistant Vice President of Data Governance and Protection focuses on the various policies and procedures and the compliance towards the PDP Act 2010 of Malaysia. The main areas of expertise are managing data incidents and resolving complaints arising from breaches of PDPA to the management team, Bank Negara Malaysia and PDP Commissioner of Malaysia, leading the data quality team and ensuring the data standards are established, maintained and implemented as well as fostering the data protection culture among the employees of the organisation.

How has the Data Protection learning been useful to you?

Data Protection Learning was useful in my daily job to understand the privacy gaps within my organisation, implementation of the right approach to ensure compliance of the business processes, providing business advisory involving potential risks related to personal data as well as managing data incidents to ensure proper investigation and resolution of corrective and preventive actions.

In addition, the exposure in the area of data protection learning provided by Straits Interactive not only boosted my influencing skills in decisions related to data protection with my senior management team, but definitely gave me the confidence in handling regulatory bodies in matters related to data protection, Bank Negara Malaysia and Personal Data Protection Department under the Ministry of Multimedia and Communications Department of Malaysia.

What advice do you have for others?

Meaningful protection of data requires transparency in how the data is collected and used. In this era of technological advancements, cooperation is needed from all parties; each and every citizen, corporate organisations and the government in ensuring this valuable asset, privacy, is protected. It’s all about the finding the right balance between privacy and the business model we operate in. And this journey is one that is exciting with ever-evolving discussions around the globe!

By Leong Wai Chong, GRCP

The opinions expressed here are the interviewee’s personal views and do not represent the official position of the organisation she works.