Global data privacy consultancy Securys was lead sponsor in the data protection forum held for key players in the Barbados financial services industry on Wednesday, March 20, at Hilton Barbados Resort, Bridgetown.
The event, dubbed ‘Compliance Beyond Borders: Insights from Financial Regulators’, was moderated by Ben Rapp, the company’s Group CEO.
The standing room only event was hosted by the Data Protection Commission, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Central Bank of Barbados CBB. Critical topics to advance the compliance agenda were addressed and ventilated during the gathering of some of Barbados’ top financial minds, as the financial services sector is expected to lead the charge as early adopters of the relatively new data protection regulations.
In his presentation, Rapp, who sees data privacy as a fundamental human right, described it as a ‘trust builder’, which will increase consumer confidence and improve the relationships between financial institutions and their customers.
One of the panels he moderated featured Barbadian Data Protection Commissioner Lisa Greaves, FSC CEO Warrick Ward and CBB Deputy Governor Elson Gaskin. At the start of the panel, Rapp said, “We are in the habit of thinking about [customer data] as our data, which is there to protect the system. Now, we need to think also about how we protect the people.”
Rapp also facilitated discussions about the sharing of data across territories with Greaves, Bermuda’s Privacy Commissioner Alexander White and Jamaica’s Information Commissioner Celia Barclay.
He said, “All data protection laws have strict controls on the transfer of data between jurisdictions. All of them approach this slightly differently. This is the big challenge in the Caribbean.” The discussion that followed explored how to build the Caribbean economy by allowing data to flow without compromising its safety. It was also noted that some Caribbean countries do not have data protection regulations or have regulations but no regulator to ensure compliance.
Rapp is a data privacy expert with extensive experience in the Caribbean, serving as Data Protection Officer DPO for Sagicor in both Barbados and Jamaica. His company Securys is a global data protection consultancy that serves organisations operating as well as elsewhere across the globe across markets like Barbados that have new or pending data protection legislation as well as those with long-established rules.
The Data Protection Act was passed in 2019 and came into effect on March 31, 2021. Since then, companies have been grappling with how to become and remain compliant with the new legislation which protects the privacy and security of individuals’ personal information. Securys, with Rapp at the helm, is one company that has been assisting entities in Barbados.
Securys works closely with organisations to come up with solutions, integrating all their teams into the process and leveraging global best practices to help them to stay compliant and minimise their cybersecurity risks. The company provides Data Protection Officer Outsourcing, Data Privacy Audits and Data Privacy Benchmarking to evaluate clients’ data privacy, as well as Data Privacy Operating Models, which it designs, develops, recommends and helps to implement.
Securys operates in over 60 countries globally across multiple sectors and will leverage this knowledge and expertise to benefit companies in Barbados and the wider Caribbean.
